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

[Deino]

There don't seem to have any visible cutouts on the UAV's rear section that would allow the angled vertical stabilizer pair to fold down and fit into the fuselage's streamlined shape of the UAV, which is quite different to the foldable tail design seen on some of the H-20 illustrations so far.

View attachment 127210

But it is also possible that this UAV is just one of the scaled test models that are used for, among others, verifying the viability of having such tail design (in one of the two/folded-up configurations) on the H-20 and/or other U(C)AVs of similar design.

So truth to be told, I'm not exactly sure.

exactly my thought too … otherwise it is 11m long, has a 18m span - if it is a UCAV it could be a full scale model.

 

[Jason_]

Could it be this is a scale model of the H-20?
IMO it is surely not a GJ-11 but its tail-fins look very much like those rumoured for the H-20 albeit they don’t look foldable.

Based on where the bulges are, I think this is a single engine aircraft with intake and exhaust on the centerline.

 

[hkvaryag]

Based on where the bulges are, I think this is a single engine aircraft with intake and exhaust on the centerline.

A cockpit???

 

[Nx4eu]

A cockpit???

View attachment 127288

That's probably the intake no? as there are no other openings on the top for an engine intake and the aircraft is far too small to be a manned aircraft

 

[siegecrossbow]

High altitude drone uses machine learning to identify “enemy combatants”.

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

GJ-11 likely spotted again, this time at Gaobeidian in Hebei.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1772652821260701847

View attachment 127208

Big Bun on Weibo put that flying wing U(C)AV beside an F-117 for comparison.

Hopefully those tail fins can be eliminated/made to fold-down for the final service model (if any).

 

[ougoah]

Looks more like H-20 mockup, scaled model, or RCS test rig? Looks exactly like the H-20 renderings and location of canted control surfaces.

Definitely not a GJ-11. GJ-11 has single wing sweep angle and has long been in service with PLA and from memory, its operational use has been talked about by the PLA since 2020. Unless this is some GJ-11A model that's basically changed the entire design of the UCAV, it is clearly a model of another program.

 

[by78]

Some illustrations from academic papers on small to medium UCAV designs. Does anyone have access to these papers?

 

[by78]

More illustrations of various UCAV designs from several research papers, none of which I have access to.


Single-engine flying wing:

Twin-engine flying wing:

Active aerodynamic control by diverting a portion of the exhaust to a control surface:

High subsonic UCAV:

 

[by78]

A VTOL concept whose nose fuselage lifts up during vertical take-off and landing (not quite sure how this works):

Other misc. concepts and studies: