6th gen fighter designers at Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, why not 3?🧐

In all seriousness, why 3 engines?
Let's get one thing out of the way. It is NOT because of underpowered engines.

You do NOT add an engine just because they are not powerful enough, if that was the case then you make the airframe smaller.

Adding an engine changes the entire structure and aerodynamics, and you can't just delete the middle engine when you get more powerful ones.

🔸HENCE, the 3 engine set up is a conscious design choice to satisfy the range, speed, and size requirements of the fighter.

6th Gen fighters are supposed to be big, the J-36 fighter will have to fly high, fly fast, over vast distances over the Pacific to seek out enemy fleet and gain air dominance.

🔸Another important role of the 3 engine configuration is used for electricity generation.

6th gen fighters needs to be future proof, so things like lasers could be onboard in the future.

6th Gen fighters requires strong electronic warfare (EW) capabilities, both offensively and defensively, you don't want to lose control of your wingman drones.

As the command and control center in the air, 6th gen fighters also need to be powerful air defense suppressors, strong EW systems requires a lot of electricity.