Chinese engineers are reportedly working on their own version of the oblique wing concept. Developed as early as the 1940s, this design consists of a single wing that can swivel around the fuselage, much like a scissor blade.
With such aircraft, at slow speeds, the wing sticks out normally (perpendicular) to enable it to take off, land, and fly as normal. At high speeds, the wing rotates until it basically blends into the fuselage, turning the whole plane into a hypersonic dart.
Planes normally have to choose between designs good for low-speed takeoff (big, wide wings for lift) and designs good for high-speed flight (swept, slim wings to cut drag).
Other designs, such as the F-14 and the British Tornado, try to do both by sweeping both wings backward, but that requires heavy, complex mechanisms. The oblique wing, on the other hand, is “simpler” engineering-wise, as just one big wing pivots.
Ressurection of the oblique wing
However, this concept has its own inherent problems, such as stability nightmares in the past (the 1970s NASA AD-1 was notoriously wobbly and hard to control). To overcome this, the Chinese team used a combination of modern technology, including supercomputers and artificial intelligence (AI).
These are being used to model and predict airflow around the aircraft during flight. The design also integrates smart materials and sensors to manage the intense stresses such an aircraft would experience.
The design reportedly includes a mix of canards, tailplanes, and active surfaces to maintain stability while the wing is in motion. This new oblique-wing aircraft isn’t just a research project; it has significant combat potential if successful.
It could, for example, be used as the basis for a new kind of drone “mother ship” that could reach Mach 5 (3,700 mph or 6,000 kph), and fly near space at an altitude of 18.64 miles (30 km).
This mother ship could potentially carry 16–18 autonomous drones for swarm attacks on radar, communications, and command centers. In theory, the ship would drop a drone behind enemy lines before defenses could react and then return to base autonomously.
As interesting as this sounds, the engineers face major obstacles. For instance, the pivot shaft for the wing must withstand immense bending, torque, and vibration loads.
Not a simple task
At Mach 5, the exterior of the aircraft becomes hotter than 1,832°F (1,000°C) while the internal pivot shaft remains cooler. This temperature difference can lead to differential expansion, lubrication failures, and a risk of cracking. Over repeated flights, fatigue could cause catastrophic failure.
So, the final aircraft would require redundancy, real-time stress monitoring, and backup systems in case the pivot fails. “Redundancy is a must,” an unnamed aviation expert told the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
“They will need multiple backup systems, real-time strain monitoring, microsecond-level diagnostics, and fail-safe locking mechanisms to freeze the wing in a stable position if anything goes wrong,” the expert added.
If the team can solve these issues, it would represent a resurrection of an idea that was ahead of its time but was limited by past technology.
If China successfully resolves these challenges, this could become a new class of hypersonic weapons platform that is long-range, fast, and hard to stop, capable of deploying drone swarms.
