This J-36 sighting suggests that China could be on track to introduce the world’s first sixth-generation platform.
New footage depicting China’s latest fighter jet circulated on social media this week. The futuristic, three-engine, tailless wing aircraft was captured flying over a busy highway while nearing its final approach for landing at the Chengdu Airframe Plant in Sichuan province. Rumored to be the J-XX or J-36 platform, the upcoming Chinese aircraft is under development by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. Two other sightings of the jet occurred in March and December of this year. However, the most recent sighting is significant because the aircraft is seen fairly up-close. While Beijing typically keeps all of its military ventures under wraps, the government likely approved the publication of the J-36 footage to signal its progress on the sixth-generation fighter jet to its adversaries and allies alike.
The United States has also made major moves concerning its next-generation fighter and bomber platforms in 2025. Last month, Boeing was awarded the rights to develop the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) manned fighter component. President Donald Trump revealed that the upcoming F-47 platform would fly alongside unmanned drones in some capacity. “It flies with many, many drones, as many as you want. And it’s a technology that’s new, but it doesn’t fly by itself. It flies (with a pilot) but with many drones, as many as we want,” Trump said. “And that’s something that no other plane can do.” The details and specs surrounding NGAD remain highly classified, but the selection of Boeing as head contractor indicates the fighter program is well underway. For this reason, Beijing could be “leaking” news surrounding its own sixth-generation counterpart to show it is also on track to potentially introduce the world’s first-ever futuristic platform.
What We Know about the J-36
Based on published images and footage of the J-36 platform, analysts have done their best to predict what potential capabilities the next-gen fighter could possess. The specialist news outlet The War Zone reported that the jet appears to possess an apparent massive, triangular-shaped tailless design that lacks any horizontal control surface besides the main wing. Notably, the jet’s very broad nose section could indicate that the J-36 supports a side-by-side crew section. Additionally, the jet’s three-engine layout is atypical for fighter standards across the board. Another aircraft-focused news outlet, The Aviationist, observed that the fighter depicted in last month’s released images of the J-36 appeared to have a flight data probe positioned on its nose. If this assumption is accurate, it this would mean that the aircraft in question is still well within the testing phase and is not near reaching operational capacity any time soon. As the jet undergoes more and more tests in its development phase, alterations to its appearance and capabilities could be impacted.
As both Washington and Beijing race to produce the world’s premiere sixth-generation fighter concept, more progress and “leaked” content should make its way to the public arena.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
Image: Chinese internet.
