The hottest stealth UAV in China is developing rap

China's stealth UAV is developing rapidly. When will it be on board

the study also mentioned the possible consequences of the proposed and recently implemented ban on plastic packaging products. On November 17, China's second aircraft carrier successfully passed through the Taiwan Strait and went to the relevant waters of the South China Sea to carry out scientific research tests and routine training. It can be seen from the video released by the Navy that the aircraft carrier carried a number of J-15 carrier based fighters this time

some time ago, the mq-25a "stingray" UAV of Boeing completed its first flight. Unlike the previous x-47b verification machine project, "stingray" is an engineering model that was intended to equip the U.S. Navy at the beginning of its development. This also makes the application of fixed wing carrier based UAV operating on aircraft carrier take a key step. With the rapid development of unmanned aerial vehicles, shipborne aviation forces also have a strong demand for unmanned aerial vehicles. However, the particularity of the aircraft carrier adds many restrictions to the requirements of the carrier based UAV, and makes the carrier based UAV operating on the aircraft carrier a "minority elite" in the UAV family

CCTV screenshot of attack-11 stealth UAV displayed in the National Day parade

aircraft carrier based UAV, the United States has started

the United States is the most active country in the development of UAVs, which can be said to be the "leader" in the field of UAVs. Its development of UAVs covers all aspects, from the large rq-170 stealth UAV, to the small reconnaissance and calibration UAV, from the high-altitude long endurance "global Eagle", to the hollow long endurance "Reaper", "Predator" and "observation and strike one" UAVs, which can be described as everything. Even many types of unmanned aerial vehicles are "invented" or defined by the United States

when the air force is heavily equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles to improve its superiority, the US Navy also has a strong demand for unmanned aerial vehicles. Traditionally, the Navy doesn't want people to do the tasks in 3D (Dall, dirty, dangerous, boring) environment that UAVs complete. Therefore, the U.S. Navy has equipped many small unmanned aerial vehicles to equip surface ships other than aircraft carriers. For example, "scanning Eagle", mq-8 "Fire Scout", and so on

it can be seen from the video released by the Navy that China's second aircraft carrier has been trained across the sea and carried a number of J-15 carrier based fighter planes

the fixed wing UAV specially equipped with the aircraft carrier has also been developed in the first decade of this century. In August, 2007, the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman signed a six-year contract for the unmanned air combat system demonstration program (ucas-d) worth $636million. This demonstration plan is actually to develop a ground strike UAV for technical verification. With the support of this project, the x-47b unmanned aerial vehicle was finally successfully tested on the ship. This is a flying wing UAV, which uses a double swept back form, with a length of 11.65 meters, a wingspan of 18.9 meters, a body height of 3.17 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of about 20 tons, a weapon load of 2041 kg, a limit overload of 6G, and a maximum speed of high subsonic speed. The wing span is longer than f/a-18e/f, and the maximum takeoff weight is close to f/a-18c. However, in the end, the project was cancelled after the completion of the on-board test. Theoretically, based on this technology, a high stealth ground attack aircraft with a non refueling combat radius much larger than that of F-35 and f/a-18 fighters can be developed

the U.S. x-47b stealth carrier based UAV took off from the aircraft carrier

although the completion of the first flight of mq-25 is an important step forward for the Navy's carrier based UAV, it is an indisputable fact that the navies of all countries in the world, including the U.S. Navy, lag behind the air force in the development of carrier based fixed wing UAVs. Of course, this is also for a reason. There are many restrictions on the development of Shipborne UAVs suitable for aircraft carriers

first of all, the size of aircraft carrier deck and hangar area are limited, and it is difficult to install too large UAVs. And some large platforms do not need to be carried by aircraft carriers. For example, the RQ-4A "Global Hawk", the U.S. military can fly intercontinental through satellite control, and the necessity of carrying it by aircraft carrier is greatly reduced. Therefore, the U.S. Navy also purchased its improved rq-4b "Poseidon" UAV, which also takes off and lands on land

secondly, the space of aircraft carriers is limited, which can be said that an inch of land is worth an inch of money. Adding a new model or model means reducing other models and models, which is different from the air force. If the aircraft carrier is equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles, it must replace the existing aircraft, and the overall capacity must be greatly improved, and the air force's equipment of unmanned aerial vehicles can be a supplement. Therefore, there is no need for "observation and combat integrated" UAVs such as the "Reaper" suitable for low-intensity operations to go on board. If it gets on the ship and replaces the "hornet", the aircraft carrier will become a security war carrier, and the overall combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier attack group will be greatly reduced. Therefore, the increase of unmanned aerial vehicles in aircraft carriers should be considered comprehensively, and the total capacity should be significantly increased, which is more in line with the tasks it performs. However, the collocation of the existing shipborne aircraft wing has actually been relatively stable

mq-25 is mainly used for aerial refueling

the development of mq-25 in the United States has also been carefully calculated. After mq-25 is put on the ship, although some "Bumblebee" fighters may be reduced, in fact, 20% - 30% of the tasks of "super Bumblebee" are used for aerial refueling, and the total ability will be strengthened after mq-25 is replaced. If the F-35 or f/a-18 is replaced by the x-47b specially for ground attack, the f/a-18 used for air refueling will still be used for air refueling, and the number of aircraft that can be used in air defense operations will be greatly reduced. Of course, theoretically speaking, the f/a-18 that performs the aerial refueling mission can also carry missiles to participate in the battle, but this is also limited to theory

in addition, there are not many countries with aircraft carriers in the world. The number of aircraft carriers in other countries is concentrated in single digits, and aircraft carriers in many countries are "orphans", so it is not cost-effective to develop a kind of UAV for oneortwo aircraft carriers. Even if the United States tries to maintain 11 aircraft carriers, the demand for carrier based fixed wing UAVs is still small - after all, such UAVs are mainly used to support support missions, which is bound to increase the cost of single aircraft

China's stealth unmanned aerial vehicles have developed rapidly, and there is a "foundation" for boarding ships.

in recent years, China's development in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles has advanced by leaps and bounds, from "high-altitude high-speed" to "medium speed", from flying wing to rotor, from delta wing to connecting wing, from single body to dual fuselage, the boldness and Avantgarde of various designs are rare in the world. Chinese UAVs may not be sophisticated enough in some fields, such as engines and sensors, but they have both height and breadth in overall technology, and various new concepts are emerging in endlessly. China can almost keep pace with the United States in the research and development of UAVs. Foreign media even believe that drones are part of China's strategic puzzle

with the service of Chinese aircraft carriers, people will naturally ask whether China can, should, and is in a hurry to develop carrier borne UAVs

let's see whether we can. In recent years, major Chinese manufacturers have exhibited a large number of UAV platforms. In addition to some aircraft that are too small, too weak, and too large to be on an aircraft carrier, there are actually several aircraft that have the potential to be on board. In addition to the attack-11 UAV displayed in the National Day parade, there is also the rainbow-7 stealth UAV displayed by Aerospace Science and technology company, with a maximum takeoff weight of 13 tons, and the "Eagle" stealth UAV also displayed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation

attack-11 attaches great importance to stealth design China military figure

the common characteristics of these UAVs are the use of flying wing layout, good stealth performance, long range, long flight time, suitable for reconnaissance, strike and other tasks. According to the existing technology, even on the basis of these UAVs, it is technically logical to develop aircraft carrier based UAVs

generally speaking, the same type of Shipborne UAV and land-based UAV have three special points technically. First of all, like the carrier based fighter aircraft, the carrier based UAV must have good takeoff and landing performance. To put it simply, the study also mentioned the possible consequences of the proposed and recently implemented ban on plastic packaging products, such as lower ground clearance, smaller take-off and landing angles of attack, and good handling response characteristics. At present, large unmanned aerial vehicles mainly focus on reconnaissance, surveillance and ground attack. Such platforms highlight the efficiency of subsonic cruise, with large aspect ratio and small sweep angle, which naturally brings the advantages of good takeoff and landing performance. The flying wing UAV in China is difficult to control, but from the perspective of the development of the x-47b, there is no problem taking off and landing on board. To say the least, even if it is difficult for the flying wing UAV to board the ship, it is entirely possible to develop other forms of stealth UAV

secondly, the fuselage and landing gear should have sufficient strength. It can withstand the impact on the landing gear and fuselage during ejection take-off and landing. If the structure of unmanned aerial vehicles such as "Predator" is not strengthened, they may fall apart after several rounds of ejection and landing. Even if the ski jump take-off mode is used, the impact on the front landing gear is also great. Of course, this is not a big problem on the whole. It is enough to strengthen the body structure and landing gear strength, which is not fundamentally different from the method of strengthening the structural strength of Shipborne fighter

the "skyhawk" stealth unmanned machine room shown at the Zhuhai Air Show, photographed by Dachuan

the third is that the control system is required to be more reliable. The requirements of the aircraft carrier for the safety of UAV take-off and landing are much higher than those of the air force's ground airports, because once a relatively large aircraft has an accident during the take-off and landing phase, especially during the landing process, it will bring great disasters to the aircraft carrier. It's easy to get out of the battle, and it's hard to dock for maintenance. The practice of the U.S. Air Force shows that at least the accident rate of predator UAV is very high. How to make the carrier based fixed wing aircraft land reliably and safely is actually the most important technical problem faced by China's research and development of the fixed wing carrier based unmanned steel bar zigzag test machine, which is developed according to the national standard metal zigzag test method (gb232 (8))