China’s sixth-gen stealth fighter test flights reveal high-level manoeuvrability
Numerous videos and pictures appear to show the unofficially named J-36 and J-50 are being put through their paces
Videos and pictures purporting to show the two aircraft in the skies over the respective headquarters of their developers in China’s southwest and northeast have emerged, with the most recent appearing on Chinese social media on Thursday.
In the latest video, the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAIC) fighter – unofficially referred to as the J-36 – can be seen performing sharp turns and other manoeuvres against the sky.
If the footage is genuine, it suggests that the aircraft’s unique design, which has been compared to the shape of a ginkgo leaf, has been combined with an advanced computer flight control system to achieve “super-manoeuvrability”.
Military commentator Song Zhongping said the J-36’s unique design of trailing edge control surfaces and split flaps on the wings of the delta platform, on top of an advanced flight control system, could ensure the fighter’s extreme agility.
“The aerodynamics of these small flaps enhances the aircraft’s lateral movement ability greatly. To work with that, China’s flight control programming must already be at a world-leading level,” he said.
Song added that the finalised version of the plane would be very likely to be powered by vector thrusting engines, which he said would be a further boost to the J-36’s super-manoeuvrability.