Key Points and Summary – China’s emerging J-36 stealth jet is reshaping debate over the future of Chinese airpower—and whether the long-rumored JH-XX medium bomber has finally appeared.
-Recent imagery shows a tailless, three-engine, flying-wing/diamond-delta design with a large side-by-side cockpit, big internal weapons bays, and now F-22-style 2D thrust-vectoring nozzles.
J-36 Fighter from X Screenshot. Image Credit: X Screenshot.
-The layout points to a heavy, long-range, multirole strike platform rather than a simple air-superiority fighter, raising the possibility that the J-36 is either the JH-XX or its direct precursor.
-Beijing remains silent, but each rapid-prototype iteration suggests a serious push toward a next-generation penetrating-strike aircraft.
IN ONE WORD: Arrived?
China’s J-36 Appears Again – Is This the JH-XX?
As images of China’s latest stealth jet prototype continue to emerge, the debate about the future of Chinese aviation only becomes more complex.
Neither the precise specifications and capabilities nor the timeline for China’s next stealth jet are yet known, but the leaks could suggest that the long-discussed JH-XX program is emerging as the J-36.
In late 2025, new rear-angle imagery of the J-36 stealth fighter appeared online depicting two-dimensional thrust-vectoring exhaust nozzles on the three-engine aircraft, along with revised intake and landing gear arrangements.
Earlier in the year, head-on photographs also revealed a vast, side-by-side, two-seat cockpit, a broad nose, and what looks like internal weapons bays – a layout more reminiscent of a strike or bomber-class jet than a regular air-superiority fighter.
J-36 Fighter. Image Credit: Screenshot from X.
Taken together, this year’s developments indicate that the J-36 is at the very least a next-generational heavy tactical jet, or perhaps even the long-awaited JH-XX stealth bomber that could finally be emerging from years of secrecy.
Here’s What We Know So Far
What we know for sure is that the J-36 is unlike China’s other existing frontline fighters. It is a tailless, tri-engine, flying-wing/diamond-delta design featuring a large internal volume and a side-by-side cockpit.
Video footage from March and April 2025, alongside a series of images, appears to show the aircraft making low-altitude landings and approaches at the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) airfield – the presumed manufacturer of the plane – providing a rare close-up of its landing gear, dorsal air intake, and its large underside weapons bay volume.
The photographs from late 2025, which depicted a second J-36 prototype, revealed significant changes from the original leak: revised air intakes, new landing gear, and, most strikingly, exhaust nozzles that looked more like those seen on the U.S. F-22 Raptor.
The news not only shocked the world because of how quickly those iterations happened, but also because it indicated that Chinese planners may be considering an option that no longer prioritizes stealth.
Instead, designers are attempting to refine the jet to serve less as a narrow-role fighter and more as a multirole strike platform: heavy, stealth-optimized, and possibly capable of air-to-surface operations, long-range missions, or carrying weapons-heavy payloads.
Nonetheless, it’s important to note that all public information has so far come from leaked photographs and independent analysis. Chinese authorities have not officially confirmed the aircraft, and their intended roles remain speculative.
J-36 Fighter Artist Rendition from X Screenshot
Is This the JH-XX?
For years, the concept of a Chinese medium-range stealth bomber has circulated under the reported designation JH-XX – a project often described in U.S. defense assessments and leaked PLAAF procurement documents, but never actually confirmed.
Reports have indicated since 2019 that the U.S. Department of Defense and other intelligence agencies list the JH-XX as a medium-bomber program currently under development. The expectation is this: the bomber would fill the gap between existing fighters, like the Chengdu J-20, and the heavier long-range stealth bomber Xi’an H-20.
Speculative imagery and concept renderings of the JH-XX have circulated for over a decade. Still, nothing quite as clear as the images seen in 2024, depicting a new tailless, trijet flying-wing aircraft tentatively designated the Chengdu J-36 and widely considered to be either a JH-XX prototype or a closely related successor.
H-20 Bomber. Chinese Internet Social Media Screenshot.
While the evidence so far allows us to make some conclusions, we cannot yet conclude which is true.
The design, at least, seems to match the J-36 very closely in terms of what has been publicly described about the JH-XX profile: a tailless, stealth-optimized, medium/long-range bomber-fighter hybrid with heavy internal volume, multiple weapon bays, and side-by-side crew configuration for extended missions.
Moreover, the rapid progression from the prototype to a second iteration with significant design changes suggests a program moving from demonstration to a production-representative design. Either that, or the program is falling behind, and planners are considering multiple design options before entering the production or complete prototype stage.
The addition of 2D thrust-vectoring nozzles, however, suggests that designers are considering improving control in the tailless design.
What’s also interesting, though, is that there is no publicly acknowledged alternative stealth bomber candidate in China beyond the J-36 or its sibling stealth jet designs. If JH-XX exists, the J-36 offers what seems to be the only credible airframe/body matching the program’s likely requirements.
But JH-XX could still be something else – especially given that China (unsurprisingly) has never actually confirmed that the J-36 is the JH-XX, or even that JH-XX exists. The leaked imagery and open-source analyses of the aircraft’s development remain unverified.
The J-36 also retains many traits associated with a “heavy tactical fighter” design: triple engines, a relatively sleek layout, and maneuverability potential thanks to the new thrust-vectoring exhaust nozzles. That leaves open the possibility that the aircraft we’ve seen is intended to be more of a strike-oriented heavy fighter than a classical bomber.
And finally, the evolution we’ve seen is not necessarily a final production design; it might be a testbed. China could be refining stealth, control, aerodynamics, and leather to choose a different configuration altogether for the operational bomber version.
There are simply too many unknowns to conclude yet. Still, we do know this: China is seeking a next-generation platform that can penetrate air defenses, deliver heavy payloads, and operate beyond the limits of its current fighter fleet.
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York who writes frequently for National Security Journal. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he analyzes and understands left-wing and right-wing radicalization and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
