PUBLISHED on August 8, 2025, 09:29 AM EDT – Key Points and Summary – New blurry photos of another previously unknown stealth aircraft are circulating on Chinese social media, sparking intense debate over its identity.
-The images reveal a sleek, possibly tailless, twin-engine design, but it is unclear if the aircraft is a new manned sixth-generation fighter or a large “loyal wingman” drone.
-While officials remain silent, this is the third potential new stealth program to emerge from China recently.
-A Chinese military expert, quoted in the state-run Global Times, asserts that if the aircraft is real, it demonstrates China’s “world-leading” position in advanced, tailless stealth design.
China’s New 6th Generation Fighter in the Air?
Social media is often where the first images of new Chinese military aircraft appear. Images can go on being shared and discussed on Chinese social media for months before there is any official recognition of a program, and before the aircraft makes what is then called its “first” flight.
It might be happening again. Recent images of a previously unknown stealth aircraft have started to circulate on the usual Chinese social media outlets.
Unfortunately, as usually happens with these photos, the images are taken from too far away.
They do not reveal enough details for it to be clear whether the aircraft in question is actually a new piloted aircraft, or an outsized wingman drone. The latter are platforms being developed in parallel with almost every next-generation fighter aircraft.
Chinese sites have published at least five photographs of these aircraft. However, the photos leave it open to interpretation whether the vehicles have a cockpit or an internal weapons bay.
The images, which have been making the rounds on Chinese websites since Monday, show an aircraft that resembles the Chengdu J-36.
However, it is smaller and features a more streamlined fuselage. Given its size, it is likely to be faster than the J-36, and it also appears to have a different wing-design concept.
Another New Design 6th Generation Fighter?
Some analysts of Chinese fighter jets believe this could be a new sixth-generation stealthy combat aircraft – it would be the third such program.
Other commentators add that programmatically this aircraft must be further back in the queue, since it is just now being seen in flight, while the J-36 is said to be a step ahead and almost ready for pre-production testing.
Some foreign media outlets claimed recently that China is test-flying another tailless stealthy combat jet – one that is different from two fighter jets that first flew in December 2024 and are being considered sixth-generation aircraft. The new aircraft, whether it is a manned fighter or an unmanned drone, is another example of the increasingly advanced level of combat aviation technology that the Chinese continue to demonstrate.
One interpretation of these photos is that this is another aircraft like the Shenyang J-50, with a wing design that includes a two-segment trailing edge. The other photos suggest a straight center section with sharply angled wing roots. It also appears to be a two-engine aircraft.
What China Is Sort of Saying
One of the Chinese media outlets covering this story is the Global Times, but the official publication cannot verify the authenticity of the images. No Chinese official has acknowledged the development of a third new fighter. For that matter, neither Chinese aviation industry officials, nor military officials, have recognized the two fighter jets that flew in December 2024.
Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday that if these media reports are confirmed, the new aircraft would be further confirmation of China’s proficiency in advanced technology-driven design technique, particularly in this manner of tailless stealth aircraft design.
Being tailless means the aircraft has no vertical control surfaces. This design reduces radar cross-section and creates a new standard in all-aspect stealth design. However, it also requires the design team to employ some sophisticated flight control systems that would need to be computer-controlled to compensate for a tailless, unstable design.
“China is at a world-leading position in these aspects,” he said.
There has been no official announcement made regarding this new stealth jet as of today, but there has been some level of confirmation that China is developing wingman drone platforms. This genre of drones can accompany crewed aircraft and provide it with combat support, including intelligence and firepower.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
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