The acronym PA stems from my favorite DotA hero Phantom Assassin, and just like her, the PA series is designed to be extremely agile and lethal.

At the time of designing the first generation of PA interceptors, the PA-72, DSI intake was not a very popular or developed concept (not for me), so it was decided to utilizes a caret intake. The caret intake and its placement also helps to minimize radar reflections, further increase its stealth.

While it may be fine for B-2 to be a flat Boomerang, such design faces challenge when the aircraft in questions requires high maneuverability. Besides, the PA series was also intended to be carrier compatible.

To solve both of these problems, a canard is added. This canard, however, has more than one degree of freedom, aside from pitching up and down, it can also row. In short: it’s the retractable wingtip that also works as the aileron and elevator. If the canard is completely reversed, it will even change the aerodynamics configuration to a forward sweep wing.

This does put a lot of stress on the connecting axis, and the seam between the wing and the canard tend to introduce turbulence at high cruise speed. But the size of the axis also makes replacement and maintenance much easier.

For the first generation, the PA-72, their inlet is a caret inlet. While this is a better choice than traditional ramps, the cost of manufacturing is high. To reduce the cost while maintaining the same maneuverability and stealth, the second generation, the PA-74, started to use BSI inlets.