Zhuhai Air Show 2020
- Thread starter Deino
- Start date
Don’t forget, when designs for KFX, F-X/F-3, TFX, AMCA etc. come out, all of a sudden they start lamenting or mentioning — the “inherent design constraints and limitations of stealth design”.
While I must admit I enjoy them being all... Jittery.
The biggest shock must've been the FH-97. The Kratos Valkyrie has been in the headlines of Warzone et all for some time - probably giving them hopes of swarming East Pacific with low cost systems like these.
Then China shows the classic UNO reverse card and flashes FH-97. All hell breaks loose. They go on wailing about how Chinese culture promotes copying ( struggling real hard to maneuver away from their racist trappings), how these systems aren't probably upto mark etc.
Very amusing stuff.
The low cost, mid to low tier mass produced unmanned system (aerial or sea-based) will benefit the country with mass produce capability but high-end capability constrained most.
In short: maybe China is still struggling to produce F135 level engine, but she has no problem to produce 10 times more cheap swarm UCAV than US even the whole west combined.
So the wise choice would be do not start the arms race in the first place.
Agreed, but it looks cool too. Do we have any information about the context it was shown off in? And on an unrelated note could we change the thread title to at least indicate 2021 as well?
I thought swarm UAVs and even very cheap, mass produced UCAVs capable of A2A is so 2018. Wasn't all those concepts talked about for years? Of course they're in development and can be made at moments notice. The question is how effective they are. Western ones no exception. No one's put any into service yet pending effectiveness and how capable they end up being.
The inexpensive swarms and loitering munitions for ground forces have been in Chinese service for some time, ahead of the USA. Kratos copy? Yeah in outward aerodynamics and certainly only that. Even their roles may differ as Kratos is supposed to be some loyal wingman type drone and the Chinese loyal wingman type is the Dark Sword, many times larger. This FH stuff serve a different role. I'm sure Russia's GROM and India's Warrior are all to serve specialist roles in their services too. All these four platforms (six if we count Boeing's Loyal Wingman which is copied by India too in another) only share some trivial layout.
Dark Sword is above all of these small to mid size UAVs which are extremely conventional in design that it's no wonder Chinese, American, Russian, and Indian analogues all look alike. It's just a toy plane UAV without the cockpit shaped with layout almost identical to LockMart 5th gen fighter design. Boring but effective, another case of converging engineering and available technology + academic understanding.
The important details are the electronics and sensors they're fitted with, any arms they deploy, and the actual role they perform. On those, the FH at least seems to be different to the other three in that it is some sensor node that supposedly also just drops more drones? Something... didn't pay attention to the video which was just marketing stuff. You can use my drone in these ways... okay, moving on.
Actual PLAAF used loyal wingman will probably either resemble GJ-11 type layout as Russia and the US have both indicated they are pursuing or the Dark Sword's layout. These FH stuff just don't have the range, speed or payload to be a decent loyal wingman. If attrition is the goal, then China already wins since it has 1000 types of drones and can produce them faster and cheaper along with the missiles of course. The US want to go down a path of cheap and plentiful drone warfare... this is China's strength.
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