China Unveils Large Unmanned Stealth Fighter Design During Military Parade

The massive military parade in Beijing has provided a much closer look at some of the country’s new air combat drone initiatives. Of these various drone designs, one, in particular, stands out. This is a low-observable tailless design that is also very large, broadly equivalent in size to China’s J-10 medium-weight fighter.

Overall, its design is indicative of high performance, pointing firmly to a true uncrewed stealth fighter, while its appearance suggests that it may well already be flyable — or is otherwise a very authentic mock-up.

While the designation of the new drone remains unknown, there have been claims that it is provisionally named Unmanned Air Superiority Fighter. Meanwhile, for the sake of clarity, China-watchers have taken to referring to this design as the Type B drone.

The drone in question was shown among other unmanned designs on the back of a flatbed truck during the September 3 parade marking the 80th anniversary of China’s victory over Japan in World War II. Seen now in full, and uncovered, the drone is significantly bigger than the other previously unknown designs that had been seen ahead of the parade, in satellite imagery and covered with tarpaulins during rehearsals.

The Type B has all the hallmarks of a higher-performance fighter-like uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV), of a kind that the U.S. Air Force is notably not developing — at least, in the unclassified realm.

The new UCAV-like Type B drone is tailless with a modified delta wing. The wing is broadly diamond-shaped, with cropped tips. There are two large control surfaces evident on each wing’s trailing edge. The nose has a very distinct chine that extends back to the side-mounted engine intakes before merging with the wing leading edge. The side intakes are in contrast to those found on at least some of the other newly emerged Chinese drone designs, which are mounted on top of the fuselage.

These forward-raked, diverterless supersonic intakes (DSI) have much in common with those found on new-generation crewed fighter designs, outright pointing to supersonic performance. The intakes feed a single engine, with the variable-geometry nozzle (presumably for an afterburning engine) projecting beyond the wing trailing edge.

The nozzle is serrated, including both the outer sleeve and actual nozzle, like on the F-35 and new Chinese fighter designs. Pointed extensions of the trailing edge, again F-35-style, are found on either side of the engine nozzle.

Overall, the Type B is very likely supersonic capable, but would also possess significant range for a high-performance aircraft, thanks to a combination of sleek tailless design and no requirement to accommodate a pilot and all crew-related systems.

Besides performance, the other major driver is low observability. As for the exposed, round engine nozzle, which would adversely affect this, at least from the rear aspect, this is a known practice for stealth fighter designs, the result of a tradeoff between performance, complexity, weight, affordability, and low observability. The serrations on the nozzle help with the radar signature in certain radar bands.

It could also be the case that this is an early iteration, and a stealthier, two-dimensional engine nozzle, possibly with thrust vectoring, will appear on the Type B in due course. This would parallel the development of Russia’s S-70 Okhotnik UCAV, and the Chinese GJ-11 Sharp Sword also underwent a redesign that left it with enhanced low-observable features.

To preserve its low observability, there are signs that the Type B drone has extensive internal capacity for weapons. Underside views of the drone suggest large weapons bays below its fuselage.

Interrupting what is otherwise an overall smooth profile, the Type B drone also has a prominent chin-mounted electro-optical sensor, likely analogous to the F-35’s Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS). Similar kinds of fairings also appear on the Chinese J-20 and J-35 stealth jets and further point to this drone being intended for fighter-style missions.

Source: The War Zone