The J-36, J-50, GJ-11 and a handful of other prototype aircraft all adopted a similar structure (flying doritos) with no tails and a lifting body. Furthermore, the J-50 and likely J-36 are supersonic aircraft and I don’t believe there has been a supersonic flying wing yet. Why is China investing in this design so heavily and how are they able to avoid the major hiccups of similar aircraft that the West has faced?
The “flying Dorito” being so prevalent is due to convergent evolution. It’s the most effective design If you want to minimize radar signature, while maximizing aerodynamics and internal volume.
It’s the same reason that every airliner looks similar, and why the Soviet and US shuttles looked so similar. These planes have the same basic job that a B2 does, carry a lot of payload, a long way, while maintaining as small a radar signature as you can. The laws of physics still constrain the design. But computer assisted flight has also mitigated a lot of the stability concerns that made these designs impractical decades ago.
The f-35, and the j35, make a trade-off in stealth for aerodynamics. China didn’t feel the need to make the same trade-off with their other stealth planes. Partially because the technology has gotten better, and probably because the mission is different.
If/when America fields a 6th gen fighter, it is gonna look similar to these Chinese ones.
Carcinization for jets?