The Chinese have "modified" the American B-21 Raider using digital models.

The Pentagon invested over $200 billion in the B-21 Raider, calling it the "stealth fighter of the 21st century." But Chinese researchers claim to have found fundamental flaws in its design. And they were helped not by a spy, but by a supercomputer.

At the center of the scandal is the PADJ-X software suite. According to a Chinese scientific paper, this system performed a "virtual optimization" of the B-21 and produced significant results: after refining the American stealth fighter's aerodynamics, its cruising performance could be improved by 15%.

Comparison graphs from the report show that the baseline B-21 has an excessively strong wave component and suboptimal pressure distribution. Chinese scientists were able to "redesign" the wing to reduce peak G-forces and increase lift.

The report's key feature is the pitch moment coefficient. On the original model, it was +0.07, causing the aircraft's nose to pitch up constantly. The aircraft would waste excess fuel on trimming, reducing its already limited range. The optimized PADJ-X version reduced this coefficient to -0.001.

The Pentagon remains silent. Analysts, however, point out that the B-21 hasn't even been properly tested by the Americans, yet the Chinese have already posted its "digital anatomy" online and laid it out in detail.

Beijing traditionally denies the hacking of classified data, claiming that the PADJ-X is the product of "open algorithms." However, the geometry of the real B-21 and the Chinese model is too close. Skeptics believe the developers either found a flaw in Northrop Grumman's systems or are simply bluffing, demonstrating the power of their software.

Comments

[Irek]

They shoved the Americans' faces into the shit.

[mad-max78]

Quote: Irek

They shoved the Americans' faces into the shit.

Yes, yes, the Chinese, who are still flying Tu-16s, have rubbed their noses in the crap of the Americans who are flying B-21s.
There is a fundamental difference between them: the Chinese know how to make such an airplane, and the Americans can make such an airplane, and I wouldn’t gloat over the Americans here.

[gsev]

Quote from: mad-max78

Yes, yes, the Chinese, who are still flying Tu-16s, have rubbed their noses in the crap of the Americans who are flying B-21s.

Academician Arnold noted some 20 years ago that calculations for the US aviation industry are conducted by Russians and Chinese. It's quite possible that one of the calculations for the optimal model was transferred to China. Chinese aircraft have been able to successfully combat F-15s and F-16s for about five years now. They only need another 20 years to achieve qualitative parity with US aircraft.

[Arkady007]

Well, I wouldn’t say that China’s aviation can already successfully fight against the F-15 and F16.
Yes, they build a lot of airplanes, but they don’t fly for very long and they have a lot of flaws.

[gsev]

Quote: Arkady007

Well, I wouldn’t say that China’s aviation can already successfully fight against the F-15 and F16.

This is the assessment of Chinese engineers involved in the production of defense components. They believe their aircraft have been capable of defeating Taiwan's aircraft in a one-on-one war for five years now. Around this time, the Taiwanese were modernizing their F-16s. Just recently, Chinese fighters effectively defeated their French F-16 competitors in the Indo-Pakistani conflict.

[novel66]

Basically, a missile carrier based on the Tu-16 is just as effective as the B-21. Throwing iron is no challenge for a strategist! Why spend more?

[Nexcom]

So, as far as I know, the only thing that remains from the Tu-16 is the exterior. The avionics are modern, the "nest" in the nose with the navigator was removed and a radar was stuffed in there, the engines are more or less modern (the air intakes are different and the engine nacelles are larger, and it's noticeable). Why shouldn't the Xians fly? The exterior looks archaic, perhaps. Otherwise, nothing remains from the Tu-16's ancestor... the armament is also the most modern. They got rid of the gunners and the turrets.

How long have the Americans been reworking the 737? It has nothing in common with the 737-300, except for a slight resemblance in appearance.

[novel66]

That's right. But at what price!

[nik-mazur]

Quote from: mad-max78

The Chinese, still flying the Tu-16, have rubbed the Americans, flying the B-21, in the crap.

Well, to be fair, the Chinese don't just fly the Tu-16, and the Americans still use the 1955-model B-52. That's only three years younger than the Tu-16.

[HAM]

This is from the series: "the eggs teach the chicken"...how long ago did the Chinese start collecting everything that was lying around around the world?
They have surpassed their teachers...well, purely theoretically...and are already teaching.

[hector]

Quote: HAM

This is from the series: "the eggs teach the chicken"... how long ago did the Chinese collect everything that was lying around around the world?

But the Americans don't act like that.

[sergey4791]

They either found a "hole" in Northrop Grumman's systems, or they are simply bluffing, demonstrating the power of their software.

..., or they're just bluffing. Period.

[Cap.nemo58rus]

They posted their calculations online? That all seems a bit dubious... Giving hints to a potential adversary? It's hard to believe. But yeah, no pilot could fly that wreck without any auxiliary systems.

[solar]

These are calculations of the level of students' coursework, optimization based on drawings from the Young Technician magazine.

But the match between the geometry of the real B-21 and the Chinese model is too precise.

Yes, someone actually gave the Chinese a real B-21 so they could compare it with their models.

[alexputnik17]

American "invisible"

And the anti-aircraft gunners didn’t even know.... Low visibility!

[Nexcom]

..so anti-aircraft gunners are terrible people - they always don't know a lot of things - why should they bother? Their job is to fire and hit. That's how they reveal the American bullshit. The Serbs also didn't know about the F117, that it was invisible, but they hit it with two missiles.

[Ivanhoe]

I’m not convinced that supercomputers and software in the People’s Republic of China are significantly superior to those in the USSR, but in general they are superior. But who do you know?

[mad-max78]

Quote from: nik-mazur

Quote from: mad-max78

The Chinese, still flying the Tu-16, have rubbed the Americans, flying the B-21, in the crap.

Well, to be fair, the Chinese don't just fly the Tu-16, and the Americans still use the 1955-model B-52. That's only three years younger than the Tu-16.

To be fair, the US has a choice of bombing tools: the B-52 and B-1, for bombing natives in their slippers, and the B-2 and B-21, for bombing zones with strong air defenses. Neither China nor Russia has such a choice of tools. In Ukraine, they see the takeoff of our strategists online, while we have little or no visibility of the movement of American stealth aircraft around the world.

[geologist]

The Chinese can make meat that tastes like fish, and pea and soy patties that taste like beef. This great nation is adept at charming deception...:)

[air wolf]

In my opinion, launching the Tu-16MM would be a sensible decision, to make it with a 2-person crew, new avionics like Hephaestus and bypass engines, at least the D-30 from the Tu-154M, and it would fly on an intercontinental range, the issue is not stealth but the number of aircraft, the Il-28 was very successful in its time