Chinese Loyal Wingman (sensor, A2A and A2G) UAV/UCAV thread

[no_name]

could be something similar to this, who knows.

picture too blurry.

 

[pevade]

could be something similar to this, who knows.

picture too blurry.

Wasn't this only supposed to be some flight control surface/avionics demonstrator and not an actual aircraft model?
Also the outline doesn't really match the MD-22.

 

[Nx4eu]

A few more possibilities that I could think of, apart from a 6th-gen fighter:

1. Loyal wingman-type UCAV? Or
2. Some kind of WZ-8-successor? Or
3. JH-XX?

I believe the image may be too blurry to definitively figure out what it is, but based on some rudimentary pixel measurements, I got it's length to be roughly 11.8m long and 6.7m wide, Very near the estimated size of the WZ-8 Drone. So it's either a very blurry WZ-8 or I believe a WZ-8 iteration or successor

 

[FriedRiceNSpice]

Rather than relying on H-6s which limits the operational flexibility of the platform, what is the likelihood and engineering difficulty associated with the development of a future WZ-8 derived platform capable of self-takeoff, leveraging either rocket assisted launch and/or land based EM catapults?

 

[Jason_]

The WZ-8 is known to be a cheap, low risk approach to an stealth high speed recon UAV using liquid rocket propulsion. It make sense its jet powered successor will be developed. I also want to note that the H-6 launching configuration essentially requires a flying wing design as there are no space for vertical stabilizers.

 

[gelgoog]

Liquid rockets don't have that much endurance. You would want an airbreathing engine powered aircraft to be the carrier platform because of this.

 

[Totoro]

Operationally, loyal wingmen are best used when they can take off and land on their own. As they might be needed on a short notice and in numbers that H6 launches simply can't provide.

That's why a dedicated space plane or a recon plane sounds more plausible. Definitely something that needs a carrier plane to act as a first stage booster, pointing to high altitude work.

 

[lcloo]

WZ-8 is probably developed based on inspiration from USAF/CIA D-21B supersonic recogn drone that crashed in Yunan in 1971. WZ-8 is not a copy of D-21B but they are both supersonic high altitude drone that gathers intelligence. D-21B were dropped from B-52 bomber which act as carrier aircraft.

After the 1971 crash in Yunan, all D-21B operation is said to be stopped due to its unsatisfactory performance.