Chengdu next gen combat aircraft (?J-36) thread

[Blitzo]

I think what PAF utilized is a less sophisticated version of what PLAAF operates right now. I would think that once they have J-36, it involves to something newer. The level of control that J-36 would exert over surrounding aircraft (especially large drones) would be at a much higher level than currently you see between AWACS and fighter jet. If you make your command and control aircraft several magnitude more survivable, then that should pretty radically change how you fight.

None of that contradicts what Siege wrote -- the relevant part which I quote: "What got CAC engineers shitfaced drunk with happiness is not so much that their product is combat proven, but that there real life evidence that their interpretation of next generation aerial warfare is correct. J-36’s radical design and combat philosophy is actually the correct path forward."

The best way to view it is that the IAF-PAF skirmish (and the demonstration of PAF capabilities), current PLAAF capabilities, and future PLAAF capabilities inclusive of J-36's conops, all lie on the same concept of how aerial combat will go, but they exist at very different parts of the spectrum in terms of scale, complexity and sophistication.

 

[Phead128]

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Orca believes J-36 to be a manifestation of the AWAC with PL-17 arsenal plane concept, but not to the same extreme and a lot more survivable.

Instead of US approach of developing stealthy refuel tankers to support twin-engine stealth missile platforms over vast distances in Pacific, China's approach appears to integrate AWAC capabilities, long-range missiles, and extended range into a single tri-engine stealth aircraft. The trijet configuration likely enables greater fuel capacity and extended endurance, which reduces reliance on separate AWACs and tanker support platform which in turn reduces steps in kill chain vulnerability.