China 6th Gen Fighter?

[ClearedHot]

Interesting design...Hella big!

 

[Swizzle]

[SurelySerious]

  On 12/26/2024 at 9:39 PM, ClearedHot said:

Interesting design...Hella big!

 

Three engines, dual wheel main trucks?

“That’s no moon.”

[Biff_T]

It looks kinda big and definitely gay.  

  On 12/26/2024 at 10:51 PM, Swizzle said:

 

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Lol. 

A stretched Bat Wing, especially without the vertical stabilizer.   

  On 12/27/2024 at 1:04 AM, SurelySerious said:

Three engines...

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I wonder if there are three humans inside of that massive cockpit?  Shit you could probably fit at least four fully grown Chinese in there.   

[Lord Ratner]

They broke the first rule of the F-22. Your plane needs to look cool.

[VMFA187]

Glad I'm only in the sims these days!

[Polar Bear]

Good thing we have Elon’s drones to protect us.

[Clark Griswold]

Methinks regional bomber / drone launcher-controller more than fighter in a traditional sense

The weapons bays look big enough for the PL-15 or 17, could have an arsenal mission too


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[TreeA10]

That thing is so huge that it's shadow has a RCS.

[ClearedHot]

  On 12/28/2024 at 2:32 AM, Clark Griswold said:

Methinks regional bomber / drone launcher-controller more than fighter in a traditional sense

The weapons bays look big enough for the PL-15 or 17, could have an arsenal mission too


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I wonder...they want to push power outwards and hold things at risk.  A semi-stealthy missile truck with a crap ton of fuel seems a useful niche for the Chicoms.

[Clark Griswold]

  On 12/29/2024 at 12:43 AM, ClearedHot said:

I wonder...they want to push power outwards and hold things at risk.  A semi-stealthy missile truck with a crap ton of fuel seems a useful niche for the Chicoms.

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Yeah concur with that.

They’re building an air fleet by size that will have range without needing a lot of AR support and deliver enough long range fires in one sweep to disable / destroy maybe not our assets but the real estate to support and sustain us in the fight.  Why directly confront us if in the tactical engagement you don’t think you’ll win but destroy our airfields, POL, radar sites, ports, etc… and win when we can’t keep our assets on station.

J-20s, Chinese Flankers, etc… they seem to have a different take on the high low mix and it’s more big smaller mix, the big fighter / strike platforms being what is probably what they will use to push us out of the island chains if we go to fisticuffs 

[Clark Griswold]

Some analysis on the big six gen flown

https://www.china-arms.com/2024/12/china-6-gen-fighter-j-36/amp/


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[M2]

New footage has emerged of the largest of China’s two new tailless stealth fighters, widely referred to as the J-36, although the designation remains unconfirmed.

The video in question is perhaps the most impressive view of the aircraft so far and shows the unique three-engine jet on final approach to land at the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation in the province of Sichuan in southwestern China.

The J-36 also wears some kind of splinter-type camouflage scheme, with distinct lighter-looking panels around the dorsal intake and aft of it. This is a feature that was visible in previous, much poorer-quality images showing the upper surfaces of the aircraft. Some kind of mirror-like coating, the like of which we have seen on all of America’s stealthy tactical jets for testing purposes, should not be ruled out, either. Meanwhile, lighter-colored areas on portions of the leading edges of the wings indicate the likely presence of apertures for electro-optical/infrared sensors.

While this latest video of the J-36 provides us with our best view so far of this still-enigmatic aircraft, the sheer quantity of imagery of the jet that has emerged in the last month or so points to a notable ramping up of test flying activity.

https://www.twz.com/air/chinas-j-36-tailless-fighter-zips-over-road-on-landing-giving-us-our-best-look-yet

[brickhistory]

  On 12/27/2024 at 1:04 AM, SurelySerious said:

Three engines, dual wheel main trucks?
 

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Reminds me of:

[Clark Griswold]

  On 4/15/2025 at 2:20 AM, brickhistory said:

Reminds me of:

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J-36 Cylon, so shall it be

[Clark Griswold]

We should / should’ve developed the 23 into the Regional Bomber concept to complement the 21

 

[BFM this]

Slightly off topic, but with just enough venn overlap:

I’ve lost count the number of times a CA I’m flying with (.civ guys) says “I think they should just build new A-10s.”

As long as we have another hour in cruise, I’ll paint the picture of 50 years of technology advances being the toys in the Eyes Wide Shut party between DoD program requirements and industry, and how that would create an incestuous love baby that will only get ripped apart across as many congressional districts as possible to create some too-big-to-fail abomination that would resemble the original A-10 about as closely as an ice cream truck.

And I somehow feel re-victimized every time.

[ClearedHot]

  On 4/14/2025 at 6:36 PM, M2 said:

New footage has emerged of the largest of China’s two new tailless stealth fighters, widely referred to as the J-36, although the designation remains unconfirmed.

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Lots of guessing focused around our doctrine of airpower, often it is more useful to approach from the adversary's state of mind.  In many ways China holds the high ground in the Taiwan fight.  With the mainland just over 100 miles it is far easier for them to project airpower over the island.  Knowing we face the tyranny of distance problem, they are looking for ways to push us back as far as possible which is why they have developed things like the DF series of missiles.  AEW platform like the KJ-500 and the new KJ-700 further feed that doctrine.  

I would not be surprised if the J-36 falls more into the category of a missile dump truck with VERY long legs. 

[VMFA187]

I would definitely turn at the merge with that thing... If I could make it there. 

[Clark Griswold]

So what’s the strategic dilemma to impose on them?

They face no daunting distances, flood the zone is a decent tactic to make the Taiwan Strait a shooting gallery but I worry that our regional allies will get wobbly if the first shots by the PRC are only directed at Taiwan with no preemptive strikes on US / Allied assets in the area in surrounding countries.  
If I were a PRC general I’d try to convince leadership to not preemptively strike to not force the hand of nations hosting US forces or the US itself.

Preemptive strikes or bet that the democracies will bicker internally long enough to establish a foothold and blockade thus winning inevitably?

[wikz]

  On 4/16/2025 at 4:33 AM, Clark Griswold said:

We should / should’ve developed the 23 into the Regional Bomber concept to complement the 21

 

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sexy lookin jet.

[Hacker]

  On 4/16/2025 at 4:33 AM, Clark Griswold said:

We should / should’ve developed the 23 into the Regional Bomber concept to complement the 21

 

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There is zero reason a minute or a dime should have been spent on any aspect of a 35 year old design.

[Clark Griswold]

  On 4/23/2025 at 6:11 AM, Hacker said:

There is zero reason a minute or a dime should have been spent on any aspect of a 35 year old design.

Reasonable point at this time, my earlier comment was really that we should have developed it in the late nineties to early aughties to complement the 22 as it was only then A2A focused
The tech may be old but if the RUMINT that is told about the 23 is just mostly true, it’s very low signatures would be relevant today. Could that older but probably capable tech be delivered at a cost less than upcoming better tech? Don’t know but if possibly and it was significantly less in cost and it’s tech we are more comfortable sharing with Allies because it’s older, it might be worth 6.9 minutes of consideration.
I would still argue for a strike focused manned platform with an unrefuelled combat radius in the 1500 nm range and a much lower price point than the upcoming 21.
This would give our regional partners (Aussies, Japanese, Brits) the ability and credibility to deter dragons and bears themselves.
This would also be in our inventory too, replacing the B-1 and 52, all stealth bomber fleet.


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