Pictures, videos, and other information has already emerged on social media from the Zhuhai Air Show. We've already seen what appears to be a previously unseen stealthy flying wing-type drone from the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group. The FH-97A's overall platform, especially the nose section with its downward slant, is extremely reminiscent of Boeing Australia's MQ-28 Ghost Bat.
A new video, has emerged with additional details, which is called the FH-97A, confirming a number of things posted in The War Zone's initial analysis. As expected, the computer-generated presentation shows these drones operating primarily in the air-to-air role networked together with crew J-20 stealth fighters, as well as each other. The clip shows crewed-uncrewed teams of J-20s and FH-97A flying in formation to avoid and otherwise penetrate through enemy air defenses and working cooperatively in air-to-air combat.
The FH-97A design shares with the FH-97 that was displayed at the Zhuhai Airshow last year – held in 2021. The FH-97 had distinct similarities to the Kratos XQ-58.
By comparison, among other things, the basic shape of the FH-97A's fuselage, wings, and vertical stabilizers are all different, and it features engine intakes on either side of the fuselage rather than a single one top. The intakes look to be of a diverterless supersonic inlet design.
The video also confirms that the FH-97A is expected to be equipped with multi-spectral sensors in a stealthy windowed enclosure on top of the nose and behind transparencies on either side of the forward fuselage for spotting and tracking threats. As we thought, its primary armament will be miniature infrared-guided air-to-air missiles in a pop-out launcher nestled in the bottom of the fuselage, but the clip says it could be armed for air-to-ground missions, too.
The computer-generated presentation says that the FH-97A's overall design is focused on stealth and maneuverability, and shows that it will take off and land from conventional runways. The clip says it will be equipped with a distributed 'mesh' data-sharing networking capability and will able to operate either together with crewed platforms, where it will act essentially as an "external bomb bay" for those aircraft as part of a complete "closed-loop attack chain," or autonomously.
Last month, PLA-related programming, broadcast a special focused on future crew-uncrewed aircraft teaming capabilities that included a depiction of a J-20 operating together with four stealthy GJ-11 Sharp Sword uncrewed combat air vehicles (UCAV).
Comments
Post a Comment