At the beginning of 2023, AVIC released a popular science propaganda film aimed at educating viewers about the basics of fighter aircraft. Although there is nothing surprising about the whole **, several of the shots have sparked heated discussions among military fans, who have speculated that China's sixth-generation fighters have begun to emerge.
In the related promotional video, there is an exciting shot: the picture of a fighter plane without a vertical tail attracts the attention of military fans. Although this is only a promotional video, many people have begun to speculate about the design of China's sixth-generation fighter.
China's sixth-generation fighters may not have a vertical tail, which has become the consensus of many countries developing sixth-generation fighters. The vertical tail is widely used in fighters of the fifth generation and below, and mainly plays the role of adjusting the steering of the aircraft and increasing the maneuverability of the aircraft.
So, what are the advantages of China's sixth-generation fighter compared with the J-20? Let's look forward to the future together.
The typical vertical tail on Soviet-style fighters, while playing an important role in improving flight stability, also has limitations, which can affect the speed of the fighter.
The afterburner speed of modern fifth-generation fighters is generally able to exceed Mach 2, but if the vertical tail is removed, the afterburner speed increases by 0Mach 5 is quite possible.
Then the question arises, if the vertical tail is removed, then how can the fighter be supermaneuverable? One might think of a vector engine, which can change the direction of the nozzle of the fighter's engine to a certain extent, and thus the position of the fighter.
In the fighter jets of the future, the role of vector engines in improving maneuverability may not be obvious. On the one hand, the sixth-generation fighter may be larger than we expected, which makes it difficult for the vector engine to provide effective maneuver regulation.
On the other hand, the maneuverability of sixth-generation fighters may be improved even more on the basis of fifth-generation fighters, while traditional vectored engines may not be able to achieve this desired effect.
Therefore, for the future sixth-generation fighters, the variable-cycle engine is the real future direction. It has the advantages of high thrust and low fuel consumption, and can show good performance in supersonic or hypersonic conditions.
The variable-cycle engine can not only promote the movement of the fighter, but also play an excellent regulating role. The United States has already begun experimenting with this engine, and it is possible that it will be used in sixth-generation fighters in the future.
If China's sixth-generation fighter does not have a vertical tail, but needs to achieve ultra-high maneuverability, then the variable-cycle engine is undoubtedly an excellent choice. Unlike the J-20, the J-20 regulates the movement of the fuselage through a double vertical tail.
Although the J-20 is already very flexible, the future sixth-generation fighter will be more agile and amazingly fast. In addition, the avionics system of the sixth-generation fighter will be more complex, and the Chinese sixth-generation fighter may follow.
Fifth-generation fighters already have excellent information superiority, like miniature AWACS aircraft, which can perform complex electronic tasks and work in a high-intensity electronic countermeasures environment. However, the information superiority of existing fifth-generation fighters has lagged behind the modern form of warfare.
With the increasing demand for electronic systems in modern warfare and the realization of innovative combat concepts such as loyal wingmen, traditional avionics equipment is no longer up to the task. In order to meet the development trend of future air warfare, the sixth-generation fighter also needs to keep up with the pace of modern warfare in terms of avionics and adopt more advanced avionics systems.
So, to what extent can the avionics of the sixth-generation fighter be advanced? For example, with a more intelligent flight control system, even if it is not controlled by a human for a short period of time, it can autonomously fly in a highly maneuverable state.
Another example is a more efficient computing system that can better assist pilots in perceiving the entire battlefield situation.
Conceptual diagram of the sixth-generation aircraft] Although modern human technology still needs to be improved in terms of miniaturized electronic devices, we generally believe that the sixth-generation fighter will be larger. In terms of electronic systems, the differences between the J-20 and the sixth-generation fighter are also obvious.
Finally, in terms of stealth performance, the sixth-generation fighter may have a greater advantage, judging from the picture of the suspected sixth-generation fighter flashed in the promotional video, the stealth ability of China's sixth-generation fighter should not be underestimated.
Although the world's fifth-generation fighters have been able to achieve stealth, they are limited to specific bands, which shows that the stealth performance of sixth-generation fighters is more superior.
Anti-stealth radar technologies such as meter-wave radar make stealth fighters have nothing to hide. Therefore, the threat of stealth fighters to great powers is not as serious as imagined. On the one hand, the radar characteristics of the sixth-generation fighter have been greatly reduced through the removal of the vertical tail and the optimization of the aerodynamic layout.
On the other hand, with advances in the field of anti-stealth materials, sixth-generation fighters may adopt radar technology for specific bands.
The fifth-generation fighter is good at "** then the sixth-generation fighter is to put on a cloak of stealth, and only the pilot's eyes can reveal its traces." Similarly, the stealth capabilities of the J-20 may not be as good as that of the sixth-generation fighter.
We need to be cautious about the expectations of the sixth-generation fighter, because all the speculation discussed is extremely challenging on a technical level and requires strong technical support. Even the United States, as a superpower, will face challenges in related areas.
Even if a sixth-generation fighter is already available, its development process will be a time-consuming and cumbersome task. It is expected that only by 2040 will we see the true strength of the first sixth-generation fighter.