INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
designation remains unconfirmed
The video in question is perhaps the most impressive view of the aircraft so far and shows the unique three-engine jet on final approach to
you can learn more about here.The latest video comes after a relative flurry of recent imagery showing the J-36, following its apparent
26 and a second appearance last month
The footage is notable, however, for the fact that we see the aircraft at unusually close quarters, as it sweeps low over a freeway just
outside the airfield perimeter
Filmed from inside a car, the J-36 is seen as it prepares to touch down, with its heavy-duty landing gear deployed, featuring twin wheels on
This seems to rule out a tandem two-seat configuration and a single-pilot cockpit also remains a possibility.In the side view of the jet
provided in the video, we also get another good look at the dorsal engine air intake and its apparent diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI)
design, with a prominent hump and forward-raked upper area
As the jet gets closer to the runway, the camera also gets a good view of the exhausts for its three engines, a unique powerplant
arrangement for a modern combat jet.The J-36 also wears some kind of splinter-type camouflage scheme, with distinct lighter-looking panels
around the dorsal intake and aft of it
This is a feature that was visible in previous, much poorer-quality images showing the upper surfaces of the aircraft
Meanwhile, lighter-colored areas on portions of the leading edges of the wings indicate the likely presence of apertures for
electro-optical/infrared sensors.
The video has already been geolocated, confirming that it shows the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC)
factory airfield in the city of the same name, in Sichuan province, where the jet was first sighted back in December.
Source: The War Zone
