Chinese UAV/UCAV development

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ougoah

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It actually looks like it has a longer wingspan than GJ-11 but shorter overall. The "fuselage" section on the GJ-11 also seems a lot more bulbous for internal bay volume no doubt.

GJ-11 is in service and relatively secretive which is why we don't see photos and videos of it. Even service J-20 photos were permitted as early as 2018. GJ-11 secrecy could be due to an unwillingness to reveal actual specifics. CH-7 is also not publicly revealed in the manner WZ-8 has been. All these choices are no doubt intentional but why are those two particular flying wings more hidden? I speculate it may have something to do with no moving surfaces - "blown air" thrust through certain points along airframe.
 

Blitzo

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It actually looks like it has a longer wingspan than GJ-11 but shorter overall. The "fuselage" section on the GJ-11 also seems a lot more bulbous for internal bay volume no doubt.

GJ-11 is in service and relatively secretive which is why we don't see photos and videos of it. Even service J-20 photos were permitted as early as 2018. GJ-11 secrecy could be due to an unwillingness to reveal actual specifics. CH-7 is also not publicly revealed in the manner WZ-8 has been. All these choices are no doubt intentional but why are those two particular flying wings more hidden? I speculate it may have something to do with no moving surfaces - "blown air" thrust through certain points along airframe.

Trying to guess the dimensions of the aircraft from those pictures is impossible.

This is how big it actually is.
Nowhere near as big as GJ-11

天鹰.jpg
 

ougoah

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Trying to guess the dimensions of the aircraft from those pictures is impossible.

This is how big it actually is.
Nowhere near as big as GJ-11

View attachment 88268

You're right the overall dimensions of 天鹰 is smaller than GJ-11... it seems even in wingspan.

What is true though is the clear difference in their geometries. GJ-11 has a more significant sweep angle than 天鹰. Seems like 天鹰 was designed for a longer loiter time as it's wingspan to length ratio is considerably greater than GJ-11's.
 

Blitzo

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You're right the overall dimensions of 天鹰 is smaller than GJ-11... it seems even in wingspan.

What is true though is the clear difference in their geometries. GJ-11 has a more significant sweep angle than 天鹰. Seems like 天鹰 was designed for a longer loiter time as it's wingspan to length ratio is considerably greater than GJ-11's.


The difference in wingspan/length is not going to be enough to make up for how small 天鹰 is.

At best it's a RQ-170 equivalent, maybe even less than that
 
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