Chinese engineers in Nanjing have demonstrated a new aerodynamic tail nozzle that significantly improves thrust efficiency in high-subsonic flight.
After nearly two decades of focused development, a Chinese research team has finally proven its streamlined thrust-vectoring concept in real flight, using a high-speed unmanned aircraft as the testbed.
Instead of relying on heavy, mechanically complex actuators like those found on fighters such as the F-35B or Russia’s Su-37, the new system reshapes and redirects engine exhaust using purely aerodynamic surfaces. That makes the nozzle lighter, simpler, and potentially more reliable, while still delivering sharp gains in maneuverability. Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics revealed last month that a group led by Professor Xu Jinglei successfully flew the aerodynamic thrust-vectoring nozzle on a drone operating in the high-subsonic regime, marking a major milestone for the long-running project.Nozzle gives Chinese drones a new agility boostRather than using bulky, mechanically complex actuators, the new thrust system delivers improved maneuverability through a lightweight aerodynamic nozzle that contains no moving parts. The flight trial took place at a desert test range in China’s northwest, where the technology was evaluated on the CK300 high-subsonic unmanned aerial vehicle. The drone measures about 11.8 feet in length and has a maximum takeoff weight of roughly 308 pounds. It can operate at altitudes up to 42,650 feet and reach speeds approaching Mach 0.9, making it a demanding platform for validating the performance and stability of the novel nozzle design,the South China Morning Post reported.According to the university, the flight marked the first time a medium-to-large high-subsonic drone has flown with an aerodynamic thrust-vectoring nozzle. The new tail unit delivered a clear boost in maneuverability and sharply reduced the aircraft’s turning radius, with every measured performance indicator surpassing expectations. Crucially, engineers achieved full thrust-vector control simply by replacing the nozzle, without needing any major changes to the drone itself. That result highlights the platform’s strong compatibility with the technology and points to how easily the aerodynamic vectoring nozzle could be integrated into other high-speed UAV designs.Thrust vectoring could change high-performance aircraft designInstead of just pushing an aircraft forward, modern thrust vectoring systems also steer it by redirecting engine exhaust to control pitch, yaw, and roll. This makes high-performance jets and stealth aircraft far more agile, helps them turn tighter in combat, and can even support short takeoffs and landings. Today, this technology is mostly mechanical and is used on advanced fighters such as the F-22, F-35B, Su-35, and Su-37. While these systems are reliable and easy to control, they are heavy, packed with moving parts, and can react more slowly than ideal. Aerodynamic thrust vectoring aims to remove those limits by shaping airflow instead of moving hardware, but making it work in real flight has long been a major engineering challenge, SCMP notes.After years of work, Xu’s team solved key challenges such as wide-angle exhaust deflection, earning more than 50 patents, a national defense award, and recognition as China’s leading group in the field. The progress was built on earlier breakthroughs – in 2013, the team added an internal airflow path to an existing nozzle, allowing thrust to be redirected without power loss. And that advance led later to a successful 2019 flight of a rudder-free drone using the design.Compared with systems already in service, the design uses about half as many parts and weighs more than 20 percent less, while also delivering measurable gains in performance, including higher top speed and longer operating range for the aircraft it is fitted to.
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