On December 26, just after Christmas in 2024, within less than 24 hours, two previously unseen Chinese fighter jets were spotted, appearing to be undergoing flight tests. Both of these aircraft feature a tailless design, sparking discussions among netizens and experts.
Some Chinese media and netizens excitedly claimed that these were China’s “sixth generation” aircraft undergoing trials, signifying China’s advancement in setting rules for the sixth generation of fighter jets. The US-based Forbes magazine described this event as China choosing to unveil new aircraft on an important day, possibly introducing “the most advanced manned combat aircraft in history.” That important day being Mao Zedong’s birthday.
These two aircraft, one possibly from Chengdu Aircraft Manufacturing Company and the other potentially from Shenyang Aircraft Manufacturing Company, garnered more attention towards the first aircraft. It conducted test flights during the day alongside a J-20, leading to speculations that it was a product of Chengdu. It features a slightly larger size compared to the accompanying J-20, with a broad triangular wing, tailless design, and four small vertical stabilizers.
Each side of the fuselage has an engine air intake, but notably, there is also an air intake behind the rear cockpit, with seemingly three exhaust nozzles at the tail. This suggests that it is likely equipped with three jet engines. Some analysts suggest that the smaller intake at the back may serve to introduce cold air to cool systems and mask the infrared features of the engine exhaust.
Visible from the open landing gear bay, it can be observed that the main landing gear consists of double wheels at the front and rear, similar to the MiG-31’s landing gear arrangement, indicating a significantly higher takeoff weight than typical fighter jets, perhaps sharing similar roles with Russian aircraft such as the MiG-31 or Su-34. This might be the reason for its three-engine configuration as achieving the level of a fighter-bomber or tactical bomber without larger thrust engines might require three engines to meet the objectives.
The second, smaller test flight aircraft has a relatively smaller fuselage and is designed with conventional twin engines but also lacks vertical tail fins. However, due to poor image quality, details are hard to discern. It is believed to be manufactured by the Shenyang Aircraft Industry Group as a similar Su-27 fighter jet flew alongside during the test. Shenyang has produced Chinese assembled Su-27s, as well as J-11, J-16, J-15, and the recently introduced J-35. The aircraft’s appearance bears a striking resemblance to renderings of Lockheed Martin’s sixth-generation fighter jet.
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