PLA 6th generation fighter thread
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
That 6th-gen fighter model displayed in Zhuhai last year will be making a comeback in Changchun this year.
Last edited:
by78
General
I think it starts Wednesday in China.
Yes, 26th (Wed) until 30th (Sun) of July.
's a copy of the paper.Does anyone have access to this paper?
I really wonder how urgent a "sixth" generation is for China currently? The large scale of J-20 production makes me think that they view the J-20 as a long term investment that will make up the core if not the bulk of their future fighter fleet.
I think the US side of the equation is very different in that the next US air superiority fighter has be designed around a totally different set of assumptions then the F-22 was designed and built on. I don't see that being the case for the successor of the J-20.
If you step outside of the concept of fighter aircraft "generations" and look at it from the geopolitical, technical, economic realities I feel as if the J-20 already meets the needs of China's goals and ambitions. The US doesn't have an aircraft that reflects the realities of the Asia-Pacific region and now needs to design a new aircraft around those realities.
All of this is to say that I think the J-20 gives China an advantage and that it may be better leveraged by continuing to produce the J-20 in large numbers and upgrade existing units. Eventually they will have to design a replacement aircraft for sure, but not as urgently as the US does.
I think the US side of the equation is very different in that the next US air superiority fighter has be designed around a totally different set of assumptions then the F-22 was designed and built on. I don't see that being the case for the successor of the J-20.
If you step outside of the concept of fighter aircraft "generations" and look at it from the geopolitical, technical, economic realities I feel as if the J-20 already meets the needs of China's goals and ambitions. The US doesn't have an aircraft that reflects the realities of the Asia-Pacific region and now needs to design a new aircraft around those realities.
All of this is to say that I think the J-20 gives China an advantage and that it may be better leveraged by continuing to produce the J-20 in large numbers and upgrade existing units. Eventually they will have to design a replacement aircraft for sure, but not as urgently as the US does.
I am fairly certain Chengdu have at least one small team working on 6th generation designs right now. Just ask yourself what have all those engineers at Chengdu been working on. Sure there were the J-20B and J-20S designs but it takes a lot less people to do a minor change like that compared with a whole new design like the J-20. Quite likely there are efforts both at Chengdu and Shenyang for 6th gen. But Shenyang is busy with the J-35 so I doubt they have as many people working on it.
We have already seen artist concepts of Chinese 6th generation designs. Even a model which regularly shows up at events.
I also think that, much like in the US, the Chinese military command will seek aircraft capable of deeper power projection for the next generation of aircraft. This will likely require the entry into service of variable cycle engines.
To be honest I am more interested in which designs Xian will come up with for the military strategic and possibly tactical bomber programs.
We have already seen artist concepts of Chinese 6th generation designs. Even a model which regularly shows up at events.
I also think that, much like in the US, the Chinese military command will seek aircraft capable of deeper power projection for the next generation of aircraft. This will likely require the entry into service of variable cycle engines.
To be honest I am more interested in which designs Xian will come up with for the military strategic and possibly tactical bomber programs.
Last edited:
Yeah, I am most likely completely wrong as it just armchair speculation on my part.
Do we know where China stands on variable cycle engines? That is the one area where the US seems to be far ahead of China. We know they have the General Electric XA100 and Pratt & Whitney XA101. If you look at the history of those programs it goes back like 20 years [Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engines (VAATE) --> Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (ADVENT) --> Adaptive Engine Technology Demonstrator (AETD) -->Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP)] of R&D and investments in turbofan technology.
It may fulfill the needs in the current day but who's to say it will ten years from now? What if fifth gen fighters proliferate in large numbers amongst it's neighbors over the next decade? The need for a fighter that can even the odds when outnumbered would be required and that's where sixth gen (whatever that means) comes into play. Whether that's made in the next 10 or 30 years is the question but better to start development now than wait until it's too late.