China’s next-generation hypersonic drones could challenge the U.S. Air Force’s newest fighter jets. The MD-22 drone reportedly has better aerodynamics than the F-22 Raptor. China’s MD-22 hypersonic drone maintains an aerodynamic quality of over 4 even at a cruising speed of 6 times the speed of sound, indicating superior aerodynamic efficiency compared to the F-22. Such features allow the drone to maneuver even in the thin atmosphere at high altitudes; This poses a problem for missile defense systems that rely on predicting flight paths.

Previously, the aerodynamic parameters of China’s hypersonic aircraft were based on theoretical models. But this time the data came from wind tunnel tests with “real engineering limitations”, according to a team of scientists led by Zhang Chenan, a researcher at the State Key Laboratory of High Temperature Gas Dynamics of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy. Sciences. Zhang and his colleagues did not disclose the model of the drone, but it looks very similar to the MD-22 hypersonic aircraft first introduced in 2019.

MD-22 was developed by the Guangdong Research Institute of Aerospace Science and Industry, part of the Institute of Mechanics. It is a reusable platform that provides long-range operation and high maneuverability for testing hypersonic technologies for use in near space.

The MD-22 UAV can carry a payload of 600 kg at speeds up to Mach 7 over a distance of 8,000 km, which is equivalent to the distance between China and the United States.

Weighing just 4 tons, the MD-22 is powered by an air jet engine to take off from airport runways or launch vertically from a missile site. Withstands up to six times the gravity load while rotating at high speeds.

The new model announced by Zhang’s team is more than 12 m long and has a wingspan of almost 6 m, slightly longer than the MD-22. However, its aerodynamic layout, including the nacelle with three engines protruding from the tail, remained virtually unchanged.

The aerodynamic scheme of the MD-22 family of hypersonic vehicles differs significantly from the design of Lockheed Martin’s SR-72, Boeing’s Valkyrie and British Skylon, having a simpler and more elegant appearance. Zhang says Chinese scientists and engineers have achieved “engineering practicality” in the technology by overcoming challenges related to aerodynamic performance, stability, thermal protection and load integration.