Every other stealth fighter in the world has a single engine, or two at the most. So why does one of China’s new sixth-generation manned stealth fighters have three?
It’s a mystery for now. But it might have something to do with the state of Chinese aircraft engine development, which still lags behind the development of similar engines in other aeroplane-making countries – and which could give Chinese designers headaches as they try to keep up with, and ultimately surpass, warplane design in the United States.
Alternatively, the triple-jet layout could hint at some bleeding-edge combat technology in the works in the Chinese air force.
The three-engine J-36 appeared over the factory airfield of the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, manufacturer of the Chinese air force’s fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighter, on December 27 – a day when Chinese industry also showed off a second fifth-gen stealth fighter design as well as a new drone-carrying assault ship.
As videographers, likely state-approved, recorded from the ground, the J-36 showed off its advanced, radar-evading profile: a triangular body and wing, no vertical tails …. and three nozzles for engines fed by a low-signature inlet atop the large jet, which might weigh 50 tons fully loaded.
The overall shape is no surprise. The latest stealth combat drones have the same basic planform and also abandon vertical control surfaces in favour of highly-complex flight software to maintain stability. The US Air Force has confessed to secretly flying a sixth-gen stealth fighter demonstrator as far back as 2020, and artists’ renderings from US industry point to this demonstrator also being tailless.
But the Americans don’t build three-engine fighters – and for good reason. US engine-makers, including General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, tend to produce very powerful engines. The single Pratt & Whitney F135 that powers the 35-ton Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter, a fifth-gen design, produces 20 tons of thrust in afterburner mode, making it the most powerful fighter engine ever.
Every other stealth fighter in the world has a single engine, or two at the most. So why does one of China’s new sixth-generation manned stealth fighters have three?
It’s a mystery for now. But it might have something to do with the state of Chinese aircraft engine development, which still lags behind the development of similar engines in other aeroplane-making countries – and which could give Chinese designers headaches as they try to keep up with, and ultimately surpass, warplane design in the United States.
Alternatively, the triple-jet layout could hint at some bleeding-edge combat technology in the works in the Chinese air force.
The three-engine J-36 appeared over the factory airfield of the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, manufacturer of the Chinese air force’s fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighter, on December 27 – a day when Chinese industry also showed off a second fifth-gen stealth fighter design as well as a new drone-carrying assault ship.
As videographers, likely state-approved, recorded from the ground, the J-36 showed off its advanced, radar-evading profile: a triangular body and wing, no vertical tails …. and three nozzles for engines fed by a low-signature inlet atop the large jet, which might weigh 50 tons fully loaded.
The overall shape is no surprise. The latest stealth combat drones have the same basic planform and also abandon vertical control surfaces in favour of highly-complex flight software to maintain stability. The US Air Force has confessed to secretly flying a sixth-gen stealth fighter demonstrator as far back as 2020, and artists’ renderings from US industry point to this demonstrator also being tailless.
But the Americans don’t build three-engine fighters – and for good reason. US engine-makers, including General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, tend to produce very powerful engines. The single Pratt & Whitney F135 that powers the 35-ton Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter, a fifth-gen design, produces 20 tons of thrust in afterburner mode, making it the most powerful fighter engine ever.