J-36: China’s New 6th Generation ‘Tactical’ Fighter-Bomber?

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Key Points and Summary: A new Chinese stealth aircraft, potentially designated the JH-XX or J-36, has sparked speculation with its hybrid fighter-bomber design.

-Blending stealth features, internal weapon bays, and fighter-like agility, this 6th-generation aircraft may combine speed, low radar signature, and tactical bombing capabilities. With a possible three-engine configuration, it promises advanced speed but raises concerns over thermal signature management.

-Its unique design hints at a potential tactical advantage, enabling it to strike multiple targets while evading air defenses.

-If equipped with advanced sensors and mission systems like the U.S. B-21 or F-35, this hybrid could represent a significant new threat in modern aerial warfare.

China’s Mysterious 6th-Gen Fighter-Bomber: A New Hybrid Threat?

As a mysterious, stealthy fighter-bomber hybrid flashed across social media, many likely wondered about the intent, concept of operation and technological maturity of what could be an emerging Chinese 6th-generation aircraft. 

Given that there only appears to be an available image, there are likely more questions than answers. Nonetheless, the photo introduces some interesting variables to consider within what we can read about the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. 

Most of the writing about the aircraft suggests it is likely a stealthy, 6th-Gen fighter-bomber designated by Western intelligence as the JH-XX. Other public essays describe the aircraft as the J-36.  

Three Engines? 

Some of the photos of the airframe’s underside show what could be three engines, something intended to enable advanced speeds.

However, it seems three engines like this could raise challenges with thermal signature management and be more likely to emit a “heat” signature to enemy sensors. 

When analyzing the available images, the photos look consistent with the published preliminary analysis, as the fuselage appears like a “tactical bomber” to the observer. It features a blended wing-body stealthy horizontal configuration designed to operate with a low radar signature.

Yet, the shape of the aircraft also aligns with fighter jet engineering. Therefore, the aircraft presents as a “hybrid” of sorts, indicating a potential People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLA AF) effort to synergize or merge missions or enable a faster, more maneuverable, lower altitude aircraft capable of tactical bombing missions. 

China New Stealth Plane.. Image Credit: X Screenshot.

The available photos of the aircraft offer a look from underneath the aircraft, and there appear to be internal weapons bays consistent with a stealthy design. Yet, the aircraft is also built with a sharp front end typically intended to maximize speed.

The fuselage configuration also reveals sharper, fighter-jet-like engine inlets and sharply angled jet wings shaped more like a 6th-generation fighter.

J-36: Tactical Bomber-Fighter? 

All of this raises the question of whether there is a strategic and tactical advantage to building a fighter-bomber hybrid or what could be called a “tactical bomber.” Unlike a higher altitude, a fully horizontal bomber such as China’s H-20 could be a faster, lower-altitude bomber that could potentially carry much ordnance closer to target areas while preserving an impactful measure of stealth.  

As opposed to a fighter jet, a tactical bomber brings the possibility of attacking a greater number of targets, given that it can operate with more weapons. Also, as a tactical fighter, the new hybrid might be quick and maneuverable to a point where it could elude or at least challenge enemy air defenses. A pure stealth fighter, by contrast, can drop some JDAMs and large laser-guided GBUs, yet its internal weapons bay is much smaller than this tactical bomber would be, and loading up in beast mode can compromise the effectiveness of stealth. 

The most significant element of this seems to be that nothing like this has ever been seen before, so speculation of its potential threat is likely to intensify.

Ultimately, it seems the actual margin of difference would pertain to performance parameters less visible to the observer, such as mission systems, sensing, computing, fire control, and weapons delivery.

Should this new tactical bomber operate with anything like a B-21, with the ability to perform command and control in the sky as a “sensor node” or an F-35, and the ability to maneuver against and attack air defenses, the new aircraft could indeed present an unprecedented threat. 

About the Author: Kris Osborn

Kris Osborn is the Military Technology Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.