Key Points and Summary – China’s mysterious GJ-X stealth drone appears to have been filmed airborne, hinting at a massive flying-wing UAV with split rudders, a likely twin-engine exhaust, and counter-shaded coatings to confuse visual ID.
-Earlier satellite imagery suggested a ~42-meter wingspan—placing GJ-X among the largest stealth drones ever seen—and fueling debate over its role: unmanned bomber, strike UCAV, high-end ISR, or a multirole platform.
-If verified, GJ-X would mark a major step in Beijing’s unmanned arsenal and sharpen competition with U.S. programs from the rumored RQ-180 to newly unveiled CCA designs like Lockheed’s Vectis. The stealth drone race just went strategic.
Has China’s GJ-X Stealth Drone Made Its First Flight?
The tussle over military technology one-upmanship between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) continues unabated, especially in stealth warplanes.
Starting with 5th-generation fighters, America has the Lockheed Martin “Skunk Works” F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II, whilst the PRC is producing its own stealth warbirds, such as the Chengdu J-20 and the Shenyang J-35.
Moving on to 6th-generation warbirds, the US is developing the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider bomber and the Boeing F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter, whilst China is developing the Xi’an H-20 bomber and the Chengdu J-36/JH-XX and Shenyang J-50 (J-XD/J-XDS) fighters.
Live flesh-and-blood aircrews will presumably operate all of the aircraft mentioned above. Meanwhile, it looks like Beijing is upping the ante in the arena of unmanned stealth drones as well, as evidenced by the so-called GJ-X drone.
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF)
This disturbing development comes to us via an October 19, 2025, article by Tyler Rogoway of The War Zone (TWZ) titled “China’s Huge ‘GJ-X’ Stealth Drone Appears To Have Been Spotted In The Air For The First Time.”
To wit: “TWZ broke the news on the existence of this aircraft in September after it appeared in satellite imagery at China’s sprawling test airbase near Malan in Xinjiang province. We estimated then that the aircraft’s wingspan was roughly 42 meters (137 feet), which puts it in a very rare class for a stealthy uncrewed aircraft.
Since our report, there have been persistent claims that the aircraft’s wingspan is larger than that of a B-21, but that is very unlikely to be the case. It’s still a gigantic stealthy flying wing drone, but it is not China’s largest, by a significant margin.”
NOTE: For the basis of comparison, the B-21 reportedly has a wingspan of 132 feet (40 meters).
Additional Features
Assuming for argument’s sake that it’s indeed the GJ-X in this newly released video clip, it displays some rather interesting features, such as:
-A so-called ‘cranked kite’ planform (a term that refers to the shape and layout of the fuselage and wing of a fixed-wing aircraft)
-“Split rudders” in the image as outboard control surfaces, a standard feature on flying wing concepts (as seen on the 4th Generation Northrop B-2 Spirit, the original “Stealth Bomber”)
A B-2A Spirit bomber assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing conduct aerial operations in support of Bomber Task Force Europe 20-2 over the North Sea March 12, 2020. Bomber missions enable aircrews to maintain a high state of readiness and proficiency, and validate U.S. global strike capability. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Master Sgt. Matthew Plew)
-A small hump that appears off-center above the jet’s empennage (tail section); most likely to be the top of the recessed engine exhaust pointing to a twin-engine design
-An underside coating that appears to have a counter-shaded paint job intended to make it more challenging to identify the aircraft’s shape at altitude positively; the dark design takes on a more traditional fuselage and wing shape
Regarding the latter feature, Mr. Rogoway adds that “It’s possible this could also be a coating installation process byproduct, but the shape being so clearly like a conventional aircraft configuration points to camouflage. This technique has been used for many years to visually break up an aircraft’s shape and/or misidentify its orientation.”
Significance and Implications
There is considerable contention over the intent and purpose of the GJ-X. Some aviation experts contend that it’s a huge, unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) focused on kinetic operations, whilst others claim it’s a straight-up unmanned stealth bomber, and still others see it as an intelligence, surveillance, & reconnaissance (ISR) platform.
And until proven otherwise, one cannot dismiss the possibility that it’s a multirole jack-of-all-trades capable of fulfilling all of the above mission profiles.
American Stealth Drone Counterparts?
Though its real-world existence hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, there are strong indications and RUMINT (RUMor INTelligence) that the SR-72 “Darkstar” AKA “SOB” (as in “Son Of Blackbird,” an homage to the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird”) will be unmanned, unlike the cinematic fictitious version flown by the titular protagonist in the iconic opening scene of the 2022 box office blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick.”
SR-72 Darkstar Lockheed Martin Image.
Thus far, there’s no indication that the GJ-X is hypersonic, whilst the “SOB” will presumably have a max airspeed in the neighborhood of Mach 6 (approx. 4,000 mph; 6,400 km/h, 3,475.9 knots).
There have also been rumors floating around for the past few years about a stealth ISR drone known as the RQ-180.
Meanwhile, there’s another “Skunk Works®” stealth drone project in the works whose existence *has* been confirmed: on September 21, 2025, that prestigious plant officially unveiled Vectis, a so-called “Group 5 collaborative combat aircraft (CCA),” at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference 2025.
Vectis Drone Skunk Works Photo Handout
Vectis is designed to integrate with U.S. and allied fighters for precision strike, electronic warfare (EW), and ISR missions, and the manufacturer has pledged to build and flight-test it within 2 years. Time will tell whether it keeps pace with the GJ-X in attaining operational status.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the newly published book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series.”
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