94 August 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
TAKING A LOOK BEHIND THE HEADLINES
BYBY ROBERT BECKHUSEN ROBERT BECKHUSEN
XXXXXXXXX...
94 August 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINE
OF AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY
BY DAVID AXEat the International Institute for Strategic Studies
think tank, told CA.
AVIC has been working on similar drones
for years, so it’s ‘feasible that hardware exists’,
Barrie added.
The implications could be huge. If and when the
Dark Sword actually enters service, it could give
the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force
(PLAAF) a big advantage over rivals — including
the US Air Force.
Todd Humphreys, a drone expert at the
University of Texas, told CA he believes the object
in the photo is indeed legit. ‘Given China’s historical
interest in developing drones for combat, and their
proven prowess in supersonic and stealthy aircraft’,
Humphreys said, ‘my guess is that this photo
shows a real working combat UAV, not a mock-up.’AVIC probably
intends the Dark
Sword to function as a
pilotless stealth fi ghter
that can fl y faster than
the speed of sound and
avoid detection by enemy
sensors
T
HE CHINESE MILITARY appears to
be working on a fast, radar-evading
robotic ghter that could be the rst
of its kind anywhere in the world.
The Dark Sword drone, as it’s
known, is the latest in a long line of
jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
that the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and sister
rms have been developing since the early 2000s.
The UAV rst appeared in a photo that began
circulating on social media in early June 2018.
The photo depicts a sleek, roughly 30ft-long
aircraft bearing several of the signature features of
supersonic stealth warplanes. Shenyang Aircraft
Corporation’s parent company, Aviation Industry
Corporation of China (AVIC), did not respond to an
e-mail seeking comment on the photo.
The Dark Sword has not been observed in ight
and some skeptics have questioned whether it’s a
functional aircraft or merely a non- ying mock-up.
Small scale-models of the Dark Sword design have
frequently appeared at industrial events in China
and abroad.
‘Looks like a mock-up for a supersonic stealth
drone, but an o cial AVIC mock-up’, Je rey Lin,
an independent expert on Chinese military
technology, told The Daily Beast via e-mail.
‘Without knowing when this photo was taken, it’d
be hard to gure out how far it’s along.’
‘It’s di cult to tell exactly what we are looking
at — a [full-scale] shape-and-size model, an
engineering mock-up, something more or
something less’, Doug Barrie, an air power expertIS CHINA DEVELOPING
AN UNMANNED
STEALTH FIGHTER?
AVIC probably intends the Dark Sword to
function as a pilotless stealth ghter that can
y faster than the speed of sound and avoid
detection by enemy sensors. The vehicle’s
distinctive protruding air intake — what engineers
call a ‘diverterless inlet’ — allows for supersonic
ight while masking engine components from
probing enemy radars.
Diverterless inlets are key to the stealthiness
of the F-35 Lightning II stealth ghter as well
as China’s own J-20 stealth ghter. The Chinese
drone’s dark-colored exterior could point to the
kind of radar-absorbing coating that’s found on
the F-35 and J-20.
The Dark Sword’s sharp angles could help hide it
from the enemy as it speeds past. ‘The design does
show the kind of shaping associated with radar
signature reduction, and also for supersonic ight’,
Barrie said.
That combination of stealth and speed sets the
Dark Sword apart. The United States and Europe
are both developing stealthy drones and fast
drones. But no other country besides China is
openly working on a single combat UAV design
that is both stealthy and fast.
There are several ways in which the PLAAF
could use the Dark Sword, according to
Humphreys. ‘It probably has multiple options
for command and control’, he said, including
remote control by a human operator or fully
autonomous ight. ‘China does not seem to share
the qualms we have in the US about making fully
autonomous combat drones.’The photo of the UAV that began circulating on social
media in early June 2018. via Chinese internet94 Cutting Edge C.indd 94 21/06/2018 13:23