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Key Points and Summary: China has reportedly tested a sixth-generation fighter jet that mirrors Western visions for advanced combat aircraft. Accompanied by a Chengdu J-20, the jet appears large, tailless, and features a delta wing—an approach resembling US sixth-gen concepts.

-Remarkably, the aircraft seems to have three engines, enhancing potential speed and range. As with other sixth-gen projects, it likely boasts superior stealth, advanced defensive systems, and high maneuverability, positioning it for air superiority and deep-strike missions.

-This early flight demo underscores China’s considerable progress in military aviation and poses new strategic challenges for the Pentagon and its allied sixth-generation fighter development programs.

Beating the Pentagon? China’s New Sixth-Generation Fighter Jet Raises Alarm Bells

China may have flown publically a sixth-generation fighter jet. This is a profound achievement of Chinese aerospace technology and an equally profound challenge to the Pentagon and the US defense industrial base. 

We Don’t Know Much…Yet…

China has flown an aircraft that looks much like what Western aviation analysts expect a sixth-generation fighter to look like. The Chinese jet was accompanied by a Chengdu J-20 chase plane, making it likely (or at least plausible) that Chinese manufacturer Chengdu developed the aircraft. 

The aircraft, which is quite large, has a delta wing and no tail. This latter development is common in US plans for a sixth-generation fighter, suggesting either espionage or (more likely) convergent development around technical requirements. Most surprisingly, the jet appears to have three engines, an almost unique characteristic among tactical combat aircraft. 

The configuration suggests a stealthy, long-range attack aircraft capable of air superiority and strike missions. 

Characteristics of Sixth-Generation Fighters 

What is a sixth-generation aircraft?  Like previous generations, part of the answer is “everything a fifth-generation fighter can do, but better and more of it. 

Sixth-generation aircraft are expected to have improved stealth characteristics that extend into the infrared and electromagnetic spectrums.

They are expected to have active defensive technologies to defeat attacks directed against the aircraft, including potentially direct energy weapons such as lasers or microwave beams. Like fifth-generation fighters, they require high speed, high maneuverability, and supercruise. 

As with the emergent features of the F-35, a sixth-generation aircraft will be an information dominance platform with sensor fusion and the capacity to communicate with other aircraft and drones in the theater, including potentially a “loyal wingman” unmanned combat aircraft. Some sixth-generation concepts have optionally manned capabilities. 

US and Other Foreign Efforts

China is not the only country investigating the prospect of a sixth-generation fighter. US plans are relatively well-known, with the US Air Force looking at the NGAD and the US Navy studying the F/A-XX. 

Neither of these programs has yet produced a viable flying prototype. Japan, the United Kingdom, and Italy are collaborating on the sixth-generation Tempest program, projecting service by the middle of the next decade. 

France, Germany, and Spain are moving forward along similar lines with the Future Combat Air System, a program that similarly is looking at initial service sometime in the 2030s. Russia has an entry in the race with the PAK DP, but all plans regarding the future of Russian military aviation are on hold pending the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine War. 

China’s White Emperor 6th Generation Fighter Mockup. Image Credit: X Screenshot.

Breaking Down the New Chinese Fighter Jet 

That China is pursuing such an aircraft is not surprising; information about China’s efforts has been available for some time, and Chinese engineers are aware of US efforts.

That China managed to fly a demonstrator before the United States is a bit surprising, and the details of the effort are pretty interesting, especially regarding what China might expect the aircraft to do in combat. 

Although it is still very early, this appears to be an aircraft designed to undertake long-range missions against enemy targets, approach them by stealth, and be capable of fighting and escaping the air defense systems it encounters. The need for such an aircraft is hardly unique to China, but it does have clear implications for how China thinks about the US and other airbases and air defense installations in the Western Pacific.

China’s NGAD Sixth-Generation Fighter Flies Into the Future 

We do not know much, and we should take great care before leaping to conclusions. 

The aviation analytical community is turning its attention to the photographs of the jet, which may yet turn up interesting and critical new details about the aircraft. 

China NGAD 6th Generation Fighter. Image Credit: Chinese Social Media.

China NGAD 6th Generation Fighter. Image Credit: Chinese Social Media.

The US intelligence community undoubtedly has more details, and over the next few months, more information about the aircraft should become available. 

There is no question, however, that unleashing this aircraft represents a bold step for China’s aerospace industry and a troubling message for its counterparts across the West. 

About the Author: Dr. Robert Farley 

Dr. Robert Farley has taught security and diplomacy courses at the Patterson School since 2005. He received his BS from the University of Oregon in 1997 and his Ph. D. from the University of Washington in 2004. Dr. Farley is the author of Grounded: The Case for Abolishing the United States Air Force (University Press of Kentucky, 2014), the Battleship Book (Wildside, 2016), Patents for Power: Intellectual Property Law and the Diffusion of Military Technology (University of Chicago, 2020), and most recently Waging War with Gold: National Security and the Finance Domain Across the Ages (Lynne Rienner, 2023). He has contributed extensively to a number of journals and magazines, including the National Interest, the Diplomat: APAC, World Politics Review, and the American Prospect. Dr. Farley is also a founder and senior editor of Lawyers, Guns and Money.