news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Recently, a video shot by a fishing enthusiast in a certain place in China suddenly attracted widespread attention on social media. In just a few seconds, a flying wing stealth aircraft was seen passing over their heads, accompanied by a low sound. The outside world believes that this aircraft may be the Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft that appeared at the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China military parade and the 13th Zhuhai Air Show.

Now with the exposure of the flight photos of the Attack-11 stealth UAV, it means that the development of the aircraft is progressing smoothly. Therefore, in the near future, the aircraft may meet everyone on the most popular 076 amphibious assault ship. As for boarding the aircraft carrier Fujian, it is also worth looking forward to.

The Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft, which made its debut at the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, adopts a flying wing layout and a backpack air intake design, similar to the then US Navy's X-47B, France's "Neuron", Britain's "Thunder God", Russia's S-70B "Hunter" B and other stealth drones. However, it is interesting that only the Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft now attracts attention from the outside world, while the above-mentioned types of drones are somewhat "indistinguishable from the crowd".

In addition to good stealth performance, the flying wing layout also has the advantages of small structural weight, long load range and high lift-to-drag ratio (under the same aspect ratio, the lift-to-drag ratio of the flying wing layout is 1.4 times that of the conventional layout). The backpack air intake can increase the fuselage volume and improve structural efficiency. As for the obviously swept air intake, it is to improve the stealth capability of the air intake. The principle is the same as increasing the wing sweep angle to reduce the echo intensity.

Public data shows that the Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft is about 10 meters long, has a wingspan of 14 meters, and a take-off weight of 10 tons. The power unit is composed of a non-afterburning turbofan engine, which is said to be the WS-13 "Tianshan", so the Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft can reach high subsonic speeds. The endurance time exceeds 6 hours, and the combat radius is more than 1,500 kilometers. The "Attack" in Attack-11 is reflected in the two built-in bomb bays configured on the belly of the aircraft.

It is reported that the two built-in bomb bays have a bomb load of about 1 ton, and can carry various types of precision-guided munitions, such as the most common laser-guided bombs, satellite-guided bombs, etc. Furthermore, if the Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft can carry miniaturized airborne precision-guided munitions or air-to-air missiles developed by my country, it means that in addition to having a relatively strong ground/sea strike capability, the aircraft's air combat capability should not be underestimated.

It should be pointed out that it is difficult for China to develop a short-range/vertical take-off and landing stealth fighter comparable to the US-made F-35B in a short period of time. Even if it is successfully developed, it will take some time to equip the 076 amphibious assault ship. In this context, there is only one option left, which is to develop a carrier-based unmanned attack aircraft, which will be boarded on the 076 amphibious assault ship and then take on the important task of providing air support for the Chinese Marine Corps.

However, in order to provide air support for the Chinese Marine Corps, the following requirements must be met. The first is timely response. This requires ensuring that air forces can quickly reach the battlefield after ground units issue air support requests. The lower limit of this requirement is armed helicopters. For example, the AH-1Z commonly used by the US Marine Corps has a maximum cruising speed of 263 kilometers per hour. The more ideal requirement is that the support aircraft can fly at a high subsonic speed of Mach 0.85 after hanging bombs, and can fly at supersonic speeds when using built-in bomb bays.

Second, it has strong mounting capacity. There are many types of air support missions. In addition to the common precision target strikes, sometimes it is necessary to perform battlefield interdiction missions, which requires the support aircraft to have sufficient ammunition projection capabilities. The lower limit of this requirement can refer to the 4173-5407 kg external mounting capacity of the AV-8B short-range/vertical take-off and landing fighter, that is, it can carry at least multiple 500 kg or more ammunition.

Judging from the actual combat experience of the US and Russian naval/air forces in recent years, 1,000-pound (about 454 kilograms) heavy bombs are an indispensable type of ammunition for battlefield interdiction missions. For example, in Operation Anaconda, in order to support ground combat, the US Navy's F-14B "Panda" fighter jets repeatedly dropped 1,000-pound Mk-83 unguided bombs and GBU-16 precision-guided bombs. The Russian Aerospace Forces' Su-24 fighter-bombers also dropped 1,500-kilogram KAB-1500L/TK/Kr series precision-guided bombs on the Syrian battlefield. If the fighter aircraft has too few bombs, it will be difficult to meet high-intensity air support missions.

The third is long hovering time. The air support required for ground combat usually lasts for a long time, especially when the ground forces are in a tough battle, continuous air support is indispensable. In order to maintain long-term air support, it is generally achieved by rotating multiple sorties or extending the hovering time of fighters. Considering that the tonnage of the 076 amphibious assault ship is far less than that of an aircraft carrier, and the number of carrier-based aircraft it carries is also relatively limited, the only measure is to extend the hovering time of fighters.

Fourth, it has strong stealth. In the context of the proliferation of advanced air defense missiles, the stealth of fighter jets has received increasing attention. On the Syrian battlefield, the Israeli Air Force's F-35A has demonstrated extremely high battlefield survivability. Although the Syrian air defense forces have successfully intercepted the air-to-ground missiles it launched many times, they have never been able to shoot it down. It can be said that in future high-intensity air-to-ground combat, the survivability of non-stealth fighters is relatively low.

In summary, the Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft, which has already successfully completed its first flight, can meet the requirements of call-up speed, hovering time, stealth performance, etc., but it needs to further improve its bomb load. As for the solution, there is no other way except to work hard on the aircraft itself. It is foreseeable that once the bomb load of the Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft is significantly improved, it will be more handy in carrying out strike missions such as battlefield interdiction.

It took less than six years for the Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft to go from its debut to its first flight. It will take even less time for the Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft to go from its first flight to its combat capability. This is good news for the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which has an urgent need for it. Once the Attack-11 stealth unmanned attack aircraft is on board the 076 amphibious assault ship, the 076 amphibious assault ship will no longer be just an amphibious assault ship. Similarly, the Taiwan Strait will completely change from a "natural barrier" to a "thoroughfare".