The promotional video of China's sixth-generation fighter was released, what are the differences compared with the J-20?At the beginning of 2023, China's aviation industry released a promotional video about the popularization of fighter science. The ** aims to popularize some basic knowledge to the audience, and although it seems ordinary at first, several of the shots have aroused the excitement of a group of military fans, making them call the beginning of China's sixth-generation fighters.
What's going on here? It turned out that in the propaganda video, there was a picture of a fighter plane without a vertical tail, and sharp-eyed military fans keenly captured this information.
However, we should not expect too much from such a message, after all, the promo video may be based on artistic considerations. So, what exactly is China's sixth-generation fighter? In what ways might it have advantages over the J-20?
First of all, China's sixth-generation fighter is likely to abandon the vertical tail. On this point, many countries that have developed sixth-generation fighters seem to have tacitly accepted as a fact.
Generally speaking, the vertical tail plays a role in adjusting the steering of the aircraft in the fighter, which helps to improve the maneuverability of the aircraft, and is widely used in the fifth generation and below fighters.
However, there are also some limitations to the vertical tail, which are affected by the direction of aerodynamic flow, which tends to reduce the flight speed of the fighter. Although modern fifth-generation fighters are usually capable of flying at speeds of more than Mach 2, if the vertical tail is removed, it is increased by 0The speed of Mach 5 should also be achievable.
So the question is, how can a fighter achieve super-maneuverability if there is no vertical tail?
Some partners may be thinking about a vectored thrust engine, which can adjust the direction of the nozzle of the fighter's engine and thus change the attitude of the fighter. But in reality, for future fighters, vector thrust engines may not play much of a role in maneuverability. On the one hand, sixth-generation fighters may be larger than expected, making vectored thrust engines difficult to adapt; On the other hand, the sixth-generation fighter may be more maneuverable than the fifth-generation fighter, and the conventional vector thrust engine may not meet the requirements.
Therefore, for future sixth-generation fighters, variable-cycle engines are a more suitable choice. It has the advantages of high thrust and low fuel consumption, and can perform well in a wide range of speed conditions. At the same time, the variable-cycle engine can also drive the fighter to maneuver and play a good role in regulation. At present, the United States is already working on variable-cycle engines, which may be used on sixth-generation fighters. If China's sixth-generation fighter wants to achieve ultra-high maneuverability without a vertical tail, the variable-cycle engine is undoubtedly an excellent choice.
From this point of view, it is very different from the J-20, because the J-20 relies on a double vertical tail to adjust the fuselage attitude. While the J-20 is already quite nimble, future sixth-generation fighters are likely to be even more agile and reach unimaginably high levels of maximum speed. In addition, sixth-generation fighters are likely to be equipped with more sophisticated avionics systems, which may also be reflected in China's sixth-generation fighters.
At present, it seems that the fifth-generation fighter already has a super information advantage, just like a tiny early warning aircraft, which can perform a variety of complex electronic tasks and perform well in a high-intensity electronic countermeasure environment. However, the super-information superiority of the existing fifth-generation fighters has gradually lagged behind the form of modern warfare. Modern warfare requires more and more electronic systems, such as traditional avionics to achieve new combat concepts such as loyal wingmen.
Considering that loyal wingmen may be the development direction of future air warfare, the sixth-generation fighter in the field of avionics also needs to keep up with the pace of modern warfare and be equipped with more advanced avionics systems. The avionics of the sixth-generation fighter may be intelligent, and it can be separated from manual control in a short period of time and autonomously carry out flights in a highly maneuverable state.
In addition, more efficient computing systems can better help pilots perceive the entire battlefield situation. Sixth-generation fighters are likely to be larger than fifth-generation fighters, as the existing technology still has the problem of miniaturization. In terms of electronic systems, there are also differences between the J-20 and the sixth-generation fighter. Finally, the stealth of the sixth-generation fighter may be stronger, according to the picture of the suspected sixth-generation fighter in the promotional video, the stealth advantage of China's sixth-generation fighter should not be underestimated.
At present, although all kinds of fifth-generation fighters in the world can achieve stealth in a specific frequency band, they are limited to that frequency band. A variety of anti-stealth radars, including millimeter-wave radars, can expose these stealth fighters to other frequency bands. Therefore, for the great powers, the threat of stealth fighters is not as great as imagined.
The sixth-generation fighter is expected to make some improvements on this basis. First of all, after eliminating the vertical tail of the fighter, the aerodynamic layout was further optimized, and the probability of radar detection was greatly reduced. Secondly, with the progress of mankind in the field of anti-stealth materials, special band radar technology may be applied to sixth-generation fighters. In contrast, if the fifth-generation fighter is fighting each other, then the sixth-generation fighter is like wearing a layer of stealth, and perhaps only the pilot's eye can detect it.
It is worth mentioning that the stealth capability of the J-20 is likely to be inferior to that of the sixth-generation fighter. However, we can't expect too much from the sixth-generation fighter either, because all our speculations today are technically quite challenging and require strong technical support. Even a superpower like the United States faces technological bottlenecks in related areas. And even if the sixth-generation fighter is introduced, further experimental work will take quite a long time, and subsequent mass production will be carried out slowly. It is estimated that it will have to wait until at least 2040 for the world's first sixth-generation fighter to form the first generation of fighters.