Pentagon, China quiet on new PLA stealth jets proven on-line
The Pentagon and the Chinese government are both keeping quiet for now on recent disclosures of two new fighters spotted on Chinese social media sites that defense analysts say appear to be Beijing’s first advanced sixth-generation stealth fighters.
An Air Force official, however, said the service is closely watching Beijing’s advanced warplane development. The Air Force views the two prototypes revealed last week as in line with Chinese strategic objectives and long-range force planning, the official said.
“Their new weapons systems introduce additional complexity in the [People’s Liberation Army], which requires highly skilled personnel to actually employ them to the max extent of their capability,” the official said.
Images and video of one jet, a tailless, delta-wing aircraft, first surfaced unexpectedly Thursday on Chinese social media. A second similar-shaped aircraft was shown flying in videos hours later.
A Chinese Embassy spokesman also declined to comment.
Chinese state media carried no stories directly commenting on the two jets. The Defense and Foreign Ministries in Beijing so far remained silent on the online appearance of the jets widely circulated globally on the internet.
The sole Chinese media comment came from a regional state-controlled outlet, the Chengdu-based Defense Times. The outlet said on the social media platform Weibo that the first new fighter “really looks like a leaf,” the South China Morning Post reported. The comment was circulated widely and is viewed as tacit official confirmation of the latest advance by China’s military.
Blurred images
The blurred images and video of both jets show what appear to be prototypes of Chinese-built stealth fighters without the rear stabilizers used by traditional aircraft to maintain control during flight.
The Air Force B-2 bomber and future B-21 bomber use similar tail-less designs that require flight control by computer.
The first jet appeared in videos taken during daylight skies near Chengdu, Sichuan, China on Dec. 26 and showed a large fighter with three engines and exhaust ports designed to reduce heat and radar signatures.
The aircraft was shadowed by a two-seat J-20 fighter and its location suggests it is being developed by the warplane manufacturer Chengdu Aircraft Corp.
The second triangular-winged fighter, smaller in size, appeared hours later in what defense analysts said was a jet flown near Shenyang, where a second major aircraft manufacturer, the Shenyang Aircraft Corp., is based. That jet was shadowed by a J-11 jet built by Shenyang, a variant of the Russian Su-27.
Disclosure of both aircraft coincided with the birthday of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, who remains a favorite founding figure of the ruling Chinese Communist Party despite policies that resulted in large-scale deaths during the 1960s and 1970s.
A J-20 prototype also appeared online on Dec. 26, about a decade ago, according to the online aircraft newsletter The Aviationist.
China also has used similar unofficial disclosures online in the past to show off new aircraft that have no official designation yet.
The first jet bore the number 3601, prompting speculation it was a J-36 prototype.
Retired Navy Capt. Carl O. Schuster, a former Pacific Command intelligence official, said the prototype flights highlight Beijing’s commitment to building military forces equal if not superior to Western militaries and China’s main strategic adversary, the United States.
The flights show the Chinese aviation industry and military are both technologically competitive with the United States and still advancing, he said.
“In my opinion, the prototype flights and related programs dispel any notion that Beijing is technologically inferior,” Capt. Schuster said.
“Quite the contrary, it has approached if not achieved technological parity with us, particularly if you include other military systems such as drones, warships and hypersonic weapons.”
Development woes
Disclosure of the new jets comes as the Air Force’s own proposed sixth-generation fighter, called the Next Generation Air Dominance fighter, faces production hurdles.
NGAD development paused by Air Force officials in November over cost concerns, after spending $5.1 billion on the program between 2022 and 2024.
A Congressional Research Service report said Air Force officials are delaying the new fighter because of doubts the service can afford the fighter at the same time it is building the new B-21 bomber and a new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile.
The NGAD also could face opposition from President-elect Trump. Mr. Trump’s government efficiency adviser Elon Musk stated on X in November that “manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones.”
Rick Fisher, an expert on the Chinese military, said the likely first sixth-generation fighter has been dubbed a “flying Dorito” after its tortilla chip shape.
The heavy 60- to 70-ton stealth air dominance fighter has “the potential to threaten U.S. Navy aircraft carrier groups with long-range precision air-launched ballistic missiles,” said Mr. Fisher a fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center.
The J-36 prototype likely also will be equipped with “supercruise” capability – lowering fuel consumption — flying at 60,000 feet. allowing it to attack new B-21 stealth bombers with precision-guided PL-17 long-range ballistic air-to-air missiles, Mr. Fisher said.
According to Chinese sources, the J-36 also will be able to strike U.S. naval and air forces that would be called on to defend Taiwan from a PLA invasion at further distances from Chinese shores than current aircraft, he said.
The second smaller new jet appears designed for use on China’s aircraft carriers, Mr. Fisher said.
Imbalance
While China is testing new fighter jets and could produce them in two or three years, the Biden administration halted work on the NGAD, leading to a delay of several years, he said.
“This only compounds a dire airpower imbalance versus China, which now fields an estimated 300 to 400 of the Chengdu J-20 heavy fifth-generation fighters, while the U.S. Air Force can in theory put 120 of its F-22A fighters into the air to meet global deterrence missions,” Mr. Fisher said.
The 2010 decision by President Obama and then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates to halt F-22 production at 186 fighters could tempt Chinese leaders to launch a war over Taiwan by 2027, he said.
“China’s goal is to overmatch the United States in terms of nuclear, naval, invasion and now airpower, to force Washington into subordination in which we surrender our global leadership position and sacrifice allies like Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan,” Mr. Fisher said.
The Pentagon’s latest annual report on the Chinese military makes no mention of the J-36 or the second new warplane.
A future J-35 aircraft is said to be under development for Chinese aircraft carriers, the report said.
The PLA’s air force now has between 1,300 and 1,900 fighters, including over 225 J-16 fourth-generation fighters and additional J-20s.
In addition to the two new jets, on Dec. 27 Chinese social media posts disclosed a new airborne warning and control aircraft, the KJ-3000, a variant of the Y-20 transport aircraft that U.S. officials say was built with stolen U.S. C-17 design information.
Photo on Chinese social media showed the KJ-3000 with a large rotodome and bulge at the tail for gear that could be used for electronic warfare in addition to radar and communications.
Chinese state media also announced the launch Dec. 27 of a new Type 076 amphibious assault ship, now named Sichuan. The large, flat-deck ship reportedly will handle helicopters and is said to be equipped with an electromagnetic catapult and arresting wire, indicating a capability to launch fixed-wing warplanes.
A defense official said one of the biggest recent changes in the PLA air force is the rapid expansion of fifth-generation aircraft, in particular the J-20.
“The production lines that are now building that aircraft are kind of in full operation,” said the official, who spoke before the disclosure of the two new jets.
