appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Zhang Tong

The old rules said you had to choose: stealth or speed. The US picked stealth. Russia went fast. China is trying to throw away the rule book.
Chinese researchers unveiled a development in aircraft design last month that could propel the nation’s next-generation stealth bombers into supersonic flight, ending the trade-off between speed and stealth that has troubled the American and Russian air forces for decades.
Since the 1930s, scientists have been studying a type of aircraft called the flying wing. Unlike conventional aircraft, this configuration integrates the fuselage and wings into a single large side wing, which reduces air resistance, improves aerodynamic efficiency and range, and enhances stealth capabilities. The most iconic example of this design is the US B-2 Spirit bomber.
However, this design comes with a trade-off. By eliminating the traditional tail, the plane responds quickly when pitching, but its long, thin wings can bend and shake in high-speed airflow, sometimes causing severe vibration across the entire aircraft.
This vibration is known as “rigid-elastic coupled flutter”. Once it occurs, it can lead to flight instability in mild cases, or even cause instant mid-air disintegration in severe scenarios.
To avoid flutter risks, earlier flying-wing aircraft, including the B-2, have been limited to subsonic speeds. This inevitably compromises a bomber’s rapid response and penetration capability, making it difficult to evade modern air defence systems once detected.
A study published on December 15 in the top mechanics journal Applied Mechanics Reviews offered a novel solution. Professor Huang Rui from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Hu Haiyan, a professor at Beijing Institute of Technology, proposed a technology that can suppress this phenomenon during flight.
“This technology improves the safe flight speed by 62.5 per cent, setting a world record in this field,” Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics said in a press release on January 9.
To do this, the team used an active suppression strategy, which works like an additional smart system for the plane that does not require any extra parts or changes to the aircraft’s structure. It simply uses the plane’s own sensors to “stand guard” against flutter.
Sensors monitor flight data in real time and adjust the airflow around the wings accordingly. This creates support that stops shaking before it starts, keeping flights smooth and safe.

The team spent 10 years studying and researching, building theories, choosing strategies and carrying out test flights.
They found a simpler way to calculate how and why flutter starts, using only four factors. The scientists developed China’s first fully independent software for modelling rigid-elastic coupled flight dynamics, or how the plane’s body interacts with its flexible wings during high-speed flight.
To test the technology, the team created a drone with a flying-wing design and long, narrow wings. Test results showed that the aircraft could fly 62.5 per cent faster than usual before hitting the flutter barrier – the point where wind forces cause a wing to vibrate until it breaks – marking a global breakthrough in the maximum speed for a flying-wing aircraft.
As Huang explained in an interview with Jiangsu News: “If a certain aircraft model can currently fly at Mach 0.5, with our technology, its speed could be increased to Mach 0.7, and its structure would become more stable.”
This breakthrough goes beyond setting a world record. Military analysts say it overturns the old idea that flying-wing aircraft cannot be supersonic, allowing a new generation of bombers to be both stealthy and fast.
Currently, most strategic bombers follow two approaches. The US B-2 emphasises stealth and survival, with its flying-wing design and stealth coating minimising radar visibility, but its subsonic speed makes it vulnerable if spotted.
Russia’s Tu-160 prioritises speed and firepower, using a variable-sweep wing design to reach speeds of up to Mach 2.05 while carrying a large missile payload. Yet it lacks stealth, leaving it vulnerable in modern air defence.
China’s next-generation strategic bomber, the H-20, is likely to be similar to the B-2 in shape, according to information that circulated earlier. With this “anti-flutter” technology, it could surpass the B-2 in speed, representing a third path that merges both speed and concealment.


Is China’s fabled Empress Dowager Huayang buried near an airport? A study says yes

China-led study reveals ‘Greater Gondwana’ was 80% of Earth’s crust 500m years ago

North Korea’s nuclear tests awaken fault lines pointing to huge volcano at China border

Chinese paint cuts wall temperature by 25 degrees Celsius in summer test: report

Science

Can this new tech help China’s stealth bomber break the sound barrier?

Chinese researchers test their flying-wing aircraft on an unknown date. Photo: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

The team tests their technology on a drone with a flying-wing design and long, narrow wings. Photo: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

China’s stealth design software PADJ-X finds potential flaws in B-21 bomber configuration

Northrop Grumman unveils its B-21 Raider stealth bomber in December 2022 at its California facility. Photo: AP

China’s supercooling tech packs 40% more punch into chips used in military radar

A team of Xidian University scientists, including Hao Yue (centre), is behind an innovation in semiconductor supercooling that has been called the “most significant breakthrough” in the field in two decades. Photo: Handout

This Chinese scientist boosts range of PL-15 missiles that brought down India’s Rafale jets

The Pakistan Air Force deploys the Chinese-made J-10CE, a single-engine, delta-wing fighter jet. Photo: AFP

News

China

Smart system allows flying-wing aircraft to fly 62.5 per cent faster, marking a world record for speed


Smart system allows flying-wing aircraft to fly 62.5 per cent faster, marking a world record for speed.


United States

Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT)

Can this new tech help China’s stealth bomber break the sound barrier?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Smart system allows flying-wing aircraft to fly 62.5 per cent faster, marking a world record for speed

Smart system allows flying-wing aircraft to fly 62.5 per cent faster, marking a world record for speed