China no longer copies, they innovate. As a small example, check out what they've done regarding stealth and the requirement of being able to communicate while remaining stealthy.
The evolution of military aircraft design has increasingly emphasized stealth and aerodynamic efficiency, pushing engineers to develop low-profile antennas that integrate seamlessly with an aircraft’s structure. Traditional antennas, with their protruding forms, create unwanted radar signatures and disrupt airflow, posing significant challenges for stealth technology.
Stealth aircraft require antennas that minimize radar detectability while maintaining robust communication capabilities. Early attempts at reducing antenna size produced compact 5-millimeter designs, but these were limited to narrow frequency ranges of 2.3 to 2.5 GHz. Expanding frequency coverage required increasing antenna height—up to 0.39 times the low-frequency wavelength—which presented a trade-off between stealth and performance.
A team led by Associate Professor Feng Yang has overcome obstacles that were set by weak tracers that are height adjustable and low-frequency range with the help of adopting a design that is low scale and has extended frequency range.
With an impressive low profile of just 0.047 times the low-frequency wavelength, the prototype presents an efficient radiation pattern, achieved simultaneously together with a 12:1 impedance bandwidth. This enables superior aerodynamic integration while ensuring operational effectiveness is not compromised.
The integration of high gain frequency and vertical polarization increases performance and makes the antenna effective for airborne navigation and secure military communication.
And we won't talk about China's 6 generation stealth fighters either, right?
Overall, the J-36 most logically combines a lot of very important features in a relatively advanced design — one potentially capable of executing long-range counter-air, ground and anti-surface strike, SEAD/DEAD roles, as well as offering a very potent standoff surveillance capability and working as a drone controller and networking hub. As we originally stated in our initial analysis, its range, speed, and payload could put many enemy assets at risk, from surface combatants to support aircraft, and especially vulnerable tankers even while operating far from China’s shores. Dismantling the ‘tanker bridge’ that would be critical to enabling U.S. tactical airpower in an anti-access combat environment, the same tanker bridge that supports America’s notoriously short-ranged fighter aircraft, would be devastating and this aircraft appears built to find, fix and kill these aircraft, among other roles.
Houston, we have a a problem
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