美军项目折戟，中国科学家却打破“魔咒”

Core Viewpoint - A revolutionary software design developed by a Chinese research team is set to overcome significant challenges in stealth aircraft development, enabling designers to increase design variables without raising computational load, thus addressing the "curse of dimensionality" in aerodynamics optimization [1][4]. Group 1: Software Innovation - The new platform allows for large-scale aerodynamic stealth optimization by enabling the addition of design variables while maintaining manageable computational complexity [1][4]. - The research team demonstrated the software's capabilities using the U.S. Navy's X47B stealth drone, achieving significant reductions in drag and radar cross-section (RCS) while improving total pressure recovery [1][3]. Group 2: Technical Details - The team improved 740 design variables, focusing on reducing flight resistance and radar detectability while ensuring engine thrust stability [3][4]. - A new geometric sensitivity calculation method was introduced, which decouples the cost of gradient calculations from the number of design variables, enhancing optimization efficiency [4]. Group 3: Industry Context - The U.S. is facing challenges with its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) project, which may be delayed, while China is advancing its stealth aircraft capabilities [6]. - The new software could save significant time and resources for China's defense sector, providing critical support for the development of low-detectability aircraft amid rising global defense budgets [6][4].