"Pentagon in shock": China's next-gen stealth drones are now leagues ahead of DARPA's, says explosive new study
"Pentagon in shock": China's next-gen stealth drones are now leagues ahead of DARPA's, says explosive new study
I am sure China is making breakneck speed innovation in defense industry but these studies and accompanying research is often just a way to present China as an existential military threat to US to get more funding to military-industrial complex. It's just manufacturing consent for absurd amount of money that goes to institutions like DARPA let alone the total amount of money spent on all the defense projects like F-35 and whatever the new F-47 will be.
This title is just calling the report by NUDT a study. The NUDT is the National University of Defence Technology which is a nationally owned institution under the Central Military Commission.
So in short, this is from China itself not from US think tanks.
Real
heads knew just from the titleI mean if these studies continue justifying the US wasting billions on useless tech that's a win too.
"quick, we have to end the program that provides schools with hot water in order to compete!"
Brain drain
How can this be?
Anyway, time to spend 457.2 trillion to replace the F35 that still doesn't work properly with the F47, which will be built by the aerospace corporation that brought you such things as aircraft doors falling off, assassination of key witnesses in cases regarding negligent QA practices, and airliners which were difficult to control
F35 is multirole, F47 is air supremacy. Different uses. Gotta get that multi-plane grift going instead of having just one money hole
Drones have a pretty big advantage over piloted aircraft in stealth terms because of their small size, the whole next generation of aircraft will be built around them.
Honestly it seems like the countries that skipped fifth gen fighters got the best deal here. Even China's newest ones are probably going to have a very short life cycle, and lmao rip the f-35 is going to cost two or more trillion dollars and accomplish nothing.
and accomplish nothing.
Hey now, they could still decapitate a couple more pilots
I'm surprised militaries are still working on piloted aircraft. It seems to me the era of dogfights between aces is over. Missile technology has gotten advanced to the point where having a pilot inside aircraft is a liability. Drones can carry larger payloads while being smaller, faster, and cheaper.
If the current war in Ukraine is any indication, most aircraft are being shot down by surface to air missiles or by drones. There are still fighters being downed by other fighters, but this seems to be the minority.
Aircraft aren't being shot down by drones in Ukraine, at most one way attack drones have taken out a few helicopters in flight. Fighters fly to high or fast to be taken out by drones. Drones and loitering munitions take out fighter aircraft that are parked on the ground. Fighter aircraft are still very important, a big part of the reason why Ukraine's air force can't operate freely, even at high altitude beyond the range of Russian ground based air defence, is Russian fighters lobbing air to air missiles at them from 200km away. At one stage, Russia was firing 6-8 R-37M missiles a day at Ukrainian aircraft. This capability led to attrition of the Ukrainian Air Force to the point F-16 deliveries were necessary. Yeah there aren't that many, if any, dogfights anymore with this kind of BVR capabilitiy.
Ground based air defence is playing the biggest part in area denial to enemy fighters. Russian aircraft are reduced to lobbing standoff weapons like glide bombs from high altitude outside of the range of Ukrainian ground based air defence. Ukrainian fighters can't even do that due to the Russian Air Force, they have to perform low altitude, terrain masking flights to fire munitions at Russian ground positions. Fighters still play an important role and can't be replaced by drones yet. Iran has a massive drone and missile arsenal, yet they still want modern fighter jets.
They can also be more manoeuvrable since the pilot tends to be the limiting factor given that human body can't sustain high gs.
Ah the ole department that cant pass audits but they get the most of our tax revenue that increases each year.
And they still cant compete with China.
Maybe throw more money at them Congress, you love doing that.
For the United States, this development underscores the need for accelerated innovation and collaboration between defense agencies and private sectors. The DARPA X-65 program, while still in its early stages, represents a critical step in maintaining competitiveness in the field of aerial warfare. This race for supremacy in drone technology highlights the broader geopolitical contest between China and the United States, with implications extending beyond military applications to areas such as intelligence gathering and surveillance.
Weird take from the "Sustainability Times"
It’s important to note that DARPA’s technology is still in the early development phase. Comparisons between the two technologies may not fully reflect the final outcomes.
This level of cope is off the charts
"Oh damn, you guys haven't even produced anything?"