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

A powerful aerospace simulation tool developed by Chinese researchers may have exposed potential vulnerabilities in the design of the United States’ most advanced stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider.

The “all-in-one” PADJ-X software system, based on adjoint optimisation technology, was unveiled last month in a paper published by the peer-reviewed Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica.

The system, which may be the first fully integrated, multidisciplinary platform for stealth aircraft design, uses an algorithmic approach to calculate the optimal direction for all parameters simultaneously, dramatically reducing computational costs.

Using PADJ-X to analyse the B-21’s configuration, the research team found that the Northrop Grumman bomber – currently going through intensive US Air Force test flights – might fall short in aerodynamics and stability, according to the paper.

Huang Jiangtao from the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Centre and his team detailed several simulations in the paper, including the US Navy’s X-47B stealth drone, which was cancelled in 2015 but remains classified, like the B-21.

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The researchers, who did not indicate what data they used for their analysis, said they applied 288 parameters in the simulation of a B-21 type of layout, with aerodynamic optimisation increasing the aircraft’s lift-to-drag ratio by 15 per cent and significantly reducing the shock wave.

South China Morning Post