Imagery of two new Chinese prototype fighter jets appeared online this week, and, while Beijing has not officially said anything about them, RT reported yesterday that they have caused “quite a stir among experts worldwide, with the planes widely believed to be the first “sixth-generation fighter jets.” Mikhail Khodarenok, a retired colonel who served with the main operational directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said the development represents a “serious bid to dominate air in the 21st century” and a major media victory over the U.S., though he also cautioned against drawing far-fetched conclusions based on the looks of the planes alone.
The larger plane is a roughly diamond-shaped, tailless aircraft featuring three engines and an elaborate yaw-control system, with split rudders. The plane was escorted by a Chengdu J-20, a Chinese-built stealth fighter in service in the hundreds in the PLA Air Force. The smaller plane that has been spotted features an arrow-wing-shaped airframe with two engines. This aircraft lacks a tail as well, with control likely provided by what appears to be full-movable vertical stabilizers. The aircraft was accompanied by a Shenyang J-16 multirole strike fighter, a Chinese derivative of the Russian Su-27/Su-30 series of aircraft.
“China has made a serious bid to dominate air in the 21st century. China’s air power, which will soon be based on next-generation combat aircraft, will clearly be used as a foundation for convincing China’s opponents,” Khodarenok said, adding that the emerging sixth-generation fighters are only the “first step” in this direction.
Beijing will have to compete with American next-generation fighter programs, another expert, Dmitry Stefanovich, a military researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted. “While there are no game-changers on the horizon, China is explicitly inviting to participate in an arms race, at least in terms of quality.”
But China may be in the race without the U.S. Last summer, U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall put the Air Force’s 6th-generation stealth fighter program, called Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, on “pause” over budgetary and technology issues. The Air Force had announced in 2023 that in 2024 it would be choosing either Boeing or Northrup Grumman to go forward as the prime contractor for NGAD, but now the future of the program is in doubt.
