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China’s third tailless sixth-generation aircraft
The pictures featured in this post are screenshots from X allegedly showing low-resolution images of a Beijing-owned fighter jet that was recently posted to the Chinese state-monitored Weibo app.
The images (not yet dated or geolocated) show a delta-winged aircraft without vertical stabilizers and a long, slender nose. Long-range strike capabilities and stealth are the elements generally linked to such planes.
The photos seem to feature a Chinese airframe that global observers were not aware of until now, including J-36 and J-50 stealth jets.
According to National Security Journal, the aircraft design suggests something new and different, perhaps even a sizable unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), or a hybrid vehicle capable of being flown with or without a human pilot in the cockpit.
Unmanned aircraft
Andreas Rupprecht, aviation analyst, said that the photos are the third known sighting of this airframe since the beginning of 2025. “A third image of that mysterious CCA UCAV (?) was just posted,” he wrote on X, sharing a screenshot of the aircraft’s latest appearance.
Even though the Chinese regime has not confirmed information regarding any new aircraft, there are suggestions that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) is developing a new fleet of unmanned aircraft aimed at minimizing the risks of battlefield casualties for pilots.
Such unmanned aircraft not only could be a stealth escort for sixth-gen J-50s or carry out high-risk solo missions but would also put China’s drone strike capabilities in closer competition with those of the US.
However, even though the aircraft seems to be a prototype, we can assume that with three separate glimpses in less than a year, it is more than just an isolated tech demo.
J-50 and J-36
As already reported, on Dec. 26, 2024, two technology demonstrator aircraft took flight in China, presumed to be sixth-generation fighter aircraft.
One of the aircraft is the Shenyang J-50, J-XD, or J-XDS. This temporary designation was given by military analysts and defense media to a twinjet tailless lambda wing aircraft under development by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC). The aircraft was observed in flight testing in Shenyang, Liaoning, China in December 2024, which was tentatively named Shenyang J-XD or Shenyang J-50 by analysts, given the limited available information.
The other aircraft spotted in December 2024 is believed to be the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (CAIC) J-36. The J-36 is a speculative designation given by military analysts to this trijet tailless diamond-double-delta winged aircraft. As part of China’s sixth-generation aircraft development program, the heavy stealth aircraft is envisioned for multiple mission set, including air superiority, strike, interception and command and control of aircraft teaming operations.
On Dec. 26, 2024, an aircraft believed to be a J-36 was spotted conducting test flights in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Since the aircraft’s serial number (36011) begins with ’36,’ following the People’s Liberation Army Air Force convention, this model was presumably designated as J-36.
Photo credit: Twitter/X
