A report in the Indian media caused a sensation in the world, and the United States made a "subversive" sixth-generation drone? Accurately destroying the strongest "Hawkeye" of the Russian army, with the same equipment, how is China's progress?Foreword: A Russia-Ukraine conflict has shown too many bright spots, from rocket artillery to air defense systems to drones, bringing too much thinking to the outside world. Now, the Ukrainian army has made a big move, starting the prelude to "intelligent air combat", using the new sixth-generation aircraft for combat and destroying the strongest AWACS aircraft A-50 of the Russian army in one fell swoop.
*: A-50 AWACS aircraft was attacked by a missile while performing a mission**).
1. A-50 made a shocking debut, and turned around to kill each other?
Although the A-50 is a long-range early warning aircraft left over from the Soviet era, it is still todayThe strongest "Eagle Eye" and "Strongest Brain" of the Russian army.
During the Gulf War, the A-50 monitored U.S. planes and cruise missiles 24 hours a day. In 1996, the A-50 intercepted the ** signal of Chechen Dusayev and quickly located it, directing fighters to carry out air strikes. During the 2005 "Peace Mission" Sino-Russian joint exercise, the A-50 AWACS aircraft established an early warning command in the air and played a huge role in the "battle".
In terms of performance, the maximum take-off weight of the A-50 reaches 190 tons,It can track dozens of targets at the same time and guide more than a dozen fighters to fight.
This is mainly due to the advanced computer data processing system it has. The system quickly receives information and analyzes it to guide fighter attacks. Of course, the A-50 is also the same as an ordinary early warning aircraft, with extremely strong reconnaissance and early warning capabilities, and radar radomes are installed on the head, upper part, wings, and sides of the belly of the fuselage.
However, such a powerful "Eagle Eye" equipment is struggling in front-line operations. After the first one was shot down in January, the second A-50 also fell on February 23.
Recently,An Indian expert said that it can be seen from the relevant ** that the Ukrainians are modifying drones to monitor all Russian air assets at a distance of 200 kilometers, from which it can be inferred that the A-50 that was blown up by the missile may be related.
*: Rendering of the AIM-120 air-to-air missile launched by the "Long Hook" UAV released by the American company).
2. Behind the scenes** points to the United States: related to the sixth-generation aircraft?
So, how exactly did Ukraine shoot down the A-50? This question has been haunting the minds of the outside world.
Indian media broke the news that the Ukrainian army was able to shoot down 2 A-50s in quick succession in just one month, which is likely to be supported by the US military, more precisely, the sixth-generation UAV "Long Hook" in the US "long-range launch plan".
In fact, long before the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the US military had the foresight to carry out a drone development program, andThe sixth-generation UAV "Long Hook" is the latest air combat UAV project proposed by it, aiming to seize air supremacy in future wars.
It can even be airdropped by manned fighters such as fighters or bombers, carrying several air-to-air missiles to hit enemy aircraft, and eventuallyRealize man-machine cooperative operations
It is worth mentioning that the "Long Hook" UAV will also use a stealth aerodynamic shape and a stealth coating, which is similar to the B-21 strategic bomber, which can greatly improve the survivability of the battlefield.
It is reported that the "Long Hook" UAV has been successfully tested, and is currently in the third stage, that is, the prototype is built and the corresponding flight tests are carried out, and if everything goes well, it will be able to equip the US Air Force in 2030.
After the outbreak of the conflict, the battlefield in Ukraine has become a "new ** testing ground" for the West. Therefore,In the opinion of the Indian media, the "Long Hook" UAV entered the Ukrainian battlefield for testing a long time ago.
So, is it possible that the Patriot, the S-300 anti-aircraft missile, or the Franconian surface-to-air missile did it? The Indian Air Force** doesn't think it's very likely. After all, the performance of the A-50 and the American E-3 early warning aircraft is similar, and it can be scanned at high altitude to the ground, and the reconnaissance and early warning capabilities should not be underestimated, in addition, the Il-22M airborne command post is also accompanied by the A-50, always detecting Ukrainian aircraft and missiles.
*: The "Condor" high-altitude anti-** UAV is the largest UAV in the world).
3. With the same equipment, China has taken the lead in making its first flight
Interested people have noticed such a keyword: "sixth-generation drones".
Since the "long hook" UAV is a new sixth-generation UAV concept proposed by the United States, so does China have the same equipment? It is worth mentioning that China not only has, but also achieved its first flight one step earlier than the United States.
In fact, UAVs, like fighter jets, are classified according to performance and other factors, such as F-22 and F-35 belong to the fifth generation of fighters, correspondingly, in the ranks of fifth-generation UAVs, the United States 5gat, China Sharpening Sword-1** UAVs are on the list.
According to the UAV network, looking at the world, China, the United States, and Russia are the most advanced in drone technologyIn the sixth generation of UAVs, China was the first to announce the successful development, it is the "Condor" high-altitude anti-** UAV.
As can be seen from the relevant **, its size is larger than a bus, slightly less than 15 meters, and a large bypass ratio turbofan engine is installed at the rear of the fuselage, and its comprehensive performance exceeds that of the American "Global Hawk".
There is no doubt that when such a drone with anti-** capability is unveiled, it will make the fifth-generation aircraft advantage that the United States has always been proud of or will lose.
*: "Laser clearance system" is available day and night, with anti-drone function).
4. In intelligent air combat, China and the United States are the real players
All in all, the "intelligent air battle" has begun, and the future combat dominated by drones will inevitably present a scene that is different from the battle.
Fortunately, China has taken advantage of the UAV field, starting from the special operations UAV, high-end reconnaissance and combat UAV, high-altitude and high-speed UAV, cheap tactical UAV, and swarm UAV, and developed a UAV development path suitable for China.
What's more, we have not only shown our strength in the field of drones, but also the rapid progress of anti-drone technology.
The U.S. media once published an article entitled "** Manufacturer Declares War on UAVs", pointing out that UAVs have become a major problem faced by various countries, and in terms of how to counter UAVs, one is "hard kill" to destroy directly, and the other is "soft kill" to interfere with or hijack UAVs.
At the Zhuhai Air Show, Chinese companies exhibited"Laser headroom system".Although not much performance data has been disclosed, it can still be known from the existing information that it has the ability to quickly and accurately strike low, slow and small UAVs.
After the advent of the American "drone defender" D-2 anti-drone system, China also launched the first set of ADS-2000 decoy anti-drone system, a simple pull of the trigger can interfere with the drone and capture.
Therefore, as experts say, China and the United States are the "real players" on the future drone track.