Shenyang / Chengdu "6th Gen" Aircraft - News and Analysis

That tiny line of black pixels might be the canopy - or it might not. This makes me think it could actually be a drone, it could be reliant on sensors for landing (British Aerospace P.125 style?), or we could be reading too much into a few pixels.
 
This is the general assumption and speculation of the Chinese J20 designers for the future fighter, and for the public paper, you may be able to solve some of your own doubts.
 

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If that's a CGI then it must be the most believable CGI in aviation history so far. I always maintain that 1% scepticism given the AI/CGI advances nowadays, but given the reactions of reliable chinese aviation watchers pretty sure this is the real deal.
 
Hood said:
It's almost like China doesn't bother about secrecy any more?
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The factory/airfield is the same CAC facility that they flew J-7s, J-10s, JF-17s, and J-20s out of when they all made their first maiden flights as prototypes and conducted their test flights, and it is also where new production aircraft do their first flights.
It is not abnormal for J-36's prototype (and future prototypes) to also carry out test flights from the same place that other prior CAC projects have done, it's just that over the decades the city of Chengdu itself has expanded to what was formerly the outskirts of the city.


It's pretty easy to geolocate where the video was taken -- yellow is the direction of the J-36 on final approach, red is the direction of the car from which the video was taken.

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The better question worth asking, is that chances are there are dozens or hundreds of higher quality videos and images taken of J-36 over its various test flights in recent times considering that the CAC factory/airfield is not exactly out in the hinterlands anymore, so why do we see so few pictures and videos of J-36?

The answer is that the PRC/PLA very much does care about secrecy, and most people know to not post anything too sensitive.
 
SUPER=BUG said:
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CG. here's the artist:

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随时随地发现新鲜事！微博带你欣赏世界上每一个精彩瞬间，了解每一个幕后故事。分享你想表达的，让全世界都能听到你的心声！
m.weibo.cn m.weibo.cn

original image:
1744024202316.jpeg
He also has really pretty take on the boeing f-47:
1744024321768.jpeg
 
Blitzo said:
The factory/airfield is the same CAC facility that they flew J-7s, J-10s, JF-17s, and J-20s out of when they all made their first maiden flights as prototypes and conducted their test flights, and it is also where new production aircraft do their first flights.
It is not abnormal for J-36's prototype (and future prototypes) to also carry out test flights from the same place that other prior CAC projects have done, it's just that over the decades the city of Chengdu itself has expanded to what was formerly the outskirts of the city.


It's pretty easy to geolocate where the video was taken -- yellow is the direction of the J-36 on final approach, red is the direction of the car from which the video was taken.

View attachment 765844



The better question worth asking, is that chances are there are dozens or hundreds of higher quality videos and images taken of J-36 over its various test flights in recent times considering that the CAC factory/airfield is not exactly out in the hinterlands anymore, so why do we see so few pictures and videos of J-36?

The answer is that the PRC/PLA very much does care about secrecy, and most people know to not post anything too sensitive.
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actually,no.I can tell you we already get much more information than early years of J-20's test flight
 
1744025035754.png 1744025065697.png 1744025145149.png

In fact, there is a grapevine on my side that in 2022, some people have already photographed some flying objects that I don't know if they are real or fake, and in some reports, the words "strategic significance", "historical significance" and "extreme importance" are used in a new type of flying object. FYI.
 
Discounting for now whether any of the above is real or CGI, the planform matches what we seen and believe to be a Chengdu 6th gen demonstrator, back in 2021-2022. Are there more angles of that statue?

I'm not even going to ask about the plane, as that could easily be CGI, but it gives me J-20 vibes, which could make sense for a demonstrator as to reduce risk and cost a 6th gen demonstrator might be based on J-20 assemblies such as fuselage mated with the new wing, without tails or canards etc.
 
lancer21 said:
Discounting for now whether any of the above is real or CGI, the planform matches what we seen and believe to be a Chengdu 6th gen demonstrator, back in 2021-2022. Are there more angles of that statue?
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It's a pity that no, if possible, this is a statue of the Aviation Industry Test Flight Center of China.
 
Do you think the blur of the aft engines has perhaps been added by censors? Or are we just unlucky?
 
Avimimus said:
Someone is better at taking pictures on the highway than I am! Wow. Unexpected is life.
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Avimimus said:
Do you think the blur of the aft engines has perhaps been added by censors? Or are we just unlucky?
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Shot from the passenger seat (right side in Chinese cars) – the blur parts later are from the A-pillar messing with phone autofocus (though you can still catch a glimpse of the engine in specific frames)... PLA security guys must be absolutely loving this camera work!
 
btw some guys inferred that the filming time of this video was at least a few days ago, based on the travel restrictions number on those sign:oops:
 
Deino said:
Really interesting and as it seems, the intake geometry is different tow what most CGs showed so far

View attachment 765580
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It could just be a mixture of my terrible eyesight and the image quality. But could it be that this is an underbody DSI? In a way it reminds me of the intake seen on the LTS, F-16 DSI demonstrator and Boeings ATF proposal.

Obviously the landing gear placement is a bit off, directly in front of the intake, but perhaps they concluded it's not an issue for the flight profiles where the gear isn't retracted?
 
EmoBirb said:
It could just be a mixture of my terrible eyesight and the image quality. But could it be that this is an underbody DSI? In a way it reminds me of the intake seen on the LTS, F-16 DSI demonstrator and Boeings ATF proposal.

Obviously the landing gear placement is a bit off, directly in front of the intake, but perhaps they concluded it's not an issue for the flight profiles where the gear isn't retracted?
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Hi,
The air intake has an inward depression (concave) rather than an outward bulge (convex). This has been seen in several concept images of sixth-generation fighters from US companies.
There are even fairly old sketches by former Skun Work vice president Rob Weiss that show this type of intake.
Regards!
 

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OT They were used by Bob Weiss for presentation, but drawn by Eric Watanabe.
 
flateric said:
OT Fueron utilizados por Bob Weiss para la presentación, pero dibujados por Eric Watanabe.
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Hello,
Yes, I thought he had the style of Eric Watanabe (a genius and one of my idols). I always think about all the top-secret things Eric must have drawn. I'd give so much to see even a few of his little-known sketches.
Best regards!!!
 
NMaude said:
So a fake video then?
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It's real.

It geolocates to exactly where you'd expect (the main cac factory airfield), and considering the altitude and approach it is at and where it actually would touch the tarmac, there is no reason to think it would cause any particularly visible disruption of the surrounding fauna.

Heck if it was able to do so then they probably wouldn't have built a highway there next to the airfield.
 

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