The future air combat campaign I envision is somewhat similar to the large army corps battles of the Napoleonic era, where air assets from both sides form corps, moving and engaging as corps units.
The front line has a large number of CCAs (acting as infantry), but the capabilities of this "infantry" are not as strong or dense as those in World War I, so they cannot form a front line that covers all airspace.
Further back are fifth-generation aircraft, playing a role similar to infantry fighting vehicles—commanding the "infantry" while also participating in combat themselves.
Behind them are sixth-generation aircraft, analogous to armored reserves, coordinating breakthroughs. They manage the battle by expanding breakthroughs, preventing enemy breakthroughs, and countering enemy efforts to widen their breakthroughs.
Even further back are 4.5-generation aircraft, which launch hypersonic missiles and act in a role similar to artillery.
However, I have three categories of questions I would like to ask:
- In the context of all-domain operations and system destruction warfare, how is a "breakthrough" achieved? Is it through firepower or other means? Specifically, how do our assets across various domains coordinate to break through the opponent in the electromagnetic and cyber domains? What role would the J-36 play in this?
- Many people believe that in certain situations, the J-36 would operate relatively independently while coordinating with CCAs, but I do not understand this point—why would it do this? I think some of its design features, such as its large weapon bay and supersonic performance, suggest it is intended for long-range engagement missions. However, I cannot understand why it would need to operate independently, detached from the corps. Given its management role, should it really be engaged in "combat"? Under what circumstances would it operate independently? Why would it not remain in a relatively rearward position? For what scenarios and combinations of enemy targets are the hypersonic missiles it carries, similar in size to the JingLei-1, intended?
- If we try to remove the J-36's large weapon bay and even moderately reduce some of its kinematic capabilities and stealth performance while maintaining its original electronic warfare capabilities to lower costs, could we obtain a type of numerous, relatively cheap, forward-deployed electronic warfare "management aircraft"? What role would they play in the context of all-domain operations and system destruction warfare?
