China's J-36 Reveal: Did Beijing Just Checkmate America's Sixth-Generation Fighter Program?

Across the entire world of combat aviation, one nation has long laid claim to a legacy of air supremacy that neither ally nor adversary could hope to match. That nation is the United States, a global superpower known for having built the fastest, the best-armed, the most prolific, and the most advanced military aircraft in world history. From the undisputed king of the skies, the F-22 Raptor, to the cutting-edge F-35, to powerhouse aircraft like the B-2 Spirit and the F-15EX, America’s claim to the heavens has been unparalleled. Or, that is, it was, until the events of December 26, 2024.

On that day, the world received shocking news by way of the rising superpower nation of China. The news didn’t come by intelligence leak, nor by some grainy, out-of-focus photograph, nor by some boastful but unverifiable claim from the Chinese government itself. Instead, it arrived in a cascade, a deluge of photographs, audio recordings, and videos taken in and around the city of Chengdu, all showing the same thing: a military aircraft unlike any known to be in the arsenal of any nation, anywhere, across history. Tailless, clearly stealthy, and built in a way that suggested it was meant to serve as a fighter, the new jet looked for all the world like a so-called sixth-generation fighter — more advanced than the F-22, more advanced than the F-35, and more advanced than any other known combat aircraft on the planet.

This analysis takes as close a look as possible at the aircraft known, albeit without confirmation, as the J-36. It examines the jet’s companion, another previously undisclosed and seemingly advanced aircraft that appeared alongside it, and explores the implications of both as part of what increasingly resembles an air-power renaissance in China. Finally, it turns to the world’s leading superpower to ask whether Uncle Sam can recover from what may be the most crushing blow to its air dominance in over half a century. The thesis is blunt: China has not checkmated America, but it has fired the opening move of a sixth-generation arms race that neither side can now ignore.

Key Takeaways

On December 26, 2024 — Mao Zedong’s 131st birthday — videos and photographs from Chengdu showed two previously unknown tailless, stealthy Chinese aircraft flying in broad daylight, in what appears to have been a deliberate public reveal.
The larger aircraft, unofficially designated the J-36 and likely a Chengdu Aircraft Corporation product, is a tailless modified delta-wing design with three engines, internal weapons bays, and a side-looking airborne radar array.
A second, smaller tailless aircraft — likely built by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation — appeared the same day; with no clear view of a cockpit, it may be a drone, an optionally manned aircraft, or a manned tactical jet.
Calling these aircraft “sixth-generation” fighters is premature, since no universal standard defines a fighter generation and the onboard AI, data fusion, and command-and-control systems remain entirely unknown.
The episode may be a 21st-century “Foxbat moment” — and the bigger question is whose: a wake-up call driving the US to overdrive, or the culmination of a Chinese catch-up effort decades in the making.

A Birthday Tribute of a Very Different Kind

December 26 is a significant date for the People’s Republic of China: the birthday of Mao Zedong, founder of the Chinese Communist Party, revolutionary architect of the rise of the PRC, and totalitarian leader of his nation until his death in 1976. In China, his legacy is regarded as unimpeachable, a triumph of what Mao insisted would become a great global power. Previous posthumous celebrations of his birthday have ranged from the unveiling of new statues and monuments to nationwide festivals and revelry. But on what would have been Chairman Mao’s 131st birthday, China and the world witnessed a tribute of a very different kind.

The videos and images surfaced out of Chengdu, the country’s fourth-most-populous city at roughly twenty million inhabitants, and the home of the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, or CAC. The CAC has produced a number of notable military aircraft across modern Chinese history, and its most recent claim to fame is the J-20: the first highly advanced, fifth-generation fighter to enter military service anywhere outside the United States. The people of Chengdu are not exactly unaccustomed to the overflight of new and sophisticated aircraft. But what they saw on Mao’s 131st went well beyond anything they had seen before.

What Flew Over Chengdu

Flying in broad daylight, low to the ground and over urban areas, the strange flying triangle above Chengdu was clearly meant to be seen. The aircraft was tailless, with broad, sweeping wings in what appeared to be a double-delta formation, hugging close to the body near the front half of the fuselage before sweeping out to a rear section reminiscent of the tailfeathers of a bird of prey. It was clearly devoid of sharp, ninety-degree angles, a telltale sign of an aircraft built to be stealthy on radar.

It featured not one engine, not two, but three — with one air intake on top and two alongside the fuselage. It was loud, highly imposing in flight, and big, something analysts could gauge thanks to the aircraft flying alongside it.

In some videos and still images, the larger jet was followed by a J-20 chase plane, believed to be the twin-seat J-20S variant. But in others, it was accompanied by a second aircraft that bore no resemblance to anything known to be in China’s arsenal. Also tailless, also clearly built with stealth in mind, this smaller aircraft moved quickly on back-swept wings, powered by what appeared to be twin engines.

According to unconfirmed reports out of China, it may be a product of the Chengdu corporation’s main rival, the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, the firm responsible for the fifth-generation J-35. It was followed by an apparent Shenyang-made chase plane, and its role as a medium-weight aircraft would fit Shenyang’s recent work, in contrast to the heavier Chengdu lineage that mirrors the heavy J-20. No image or video gave a clear look at the second aircraft’s cockpit, leaving open the possibility that it could be a drone or an optionally manned aircraft rather than a dedicated manned fighter.

Neither aircraft has been formally acknowledged by China, but given the manner of their display, it appears all but certain the word was meant to get out. Flying over residential neighborhoods on a cloudless day, it was practically assured that Chengdu’s many residents would capture footage, and that the resulting media would quickly escape the insular bubble of the Chinese internet. As expected, the clips reached the global West within hours, landing in the headlines of both major news outlets and dedicated flight-focused publications.

In a telling indicator of intent, little if any of the content shared by Chinese citizens was censored. Chairman Mao’s birthday gift was apparently not just a pair of new jets, but a show of military might directed at the entire world.

China’s Broader Aerospace Renaissance

It is worth putting this reveal in context. News of China’s rapid aerospace development rarely makes the front page abroad — unless Beijing is unveiling what looks like a hyper-advanced fighter — yet the country has logged a long string of major advances. Images recently circulated of what is thought to be China’s new KJ-3000, an advanced early-warning and control aircraft believed to be a step above anything China currently flies.

Other footage caught the first known images of what is thought to be a twin-boom unmanned drone, the Wuzhen-9, reportedly designed to detect stealth aircraft. China recently launched an extra-large amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan, featuring an electromagnetic catapult and arresting gear that may let it launch drones or even fighter aircraft.

The list continues. China has shown off major design updates to its Collaborative Combat Aircraft, a planned loyal-wingman drone meant to fly alongside fighters, and disclosed that four years earlier it had flown a large aircraft at over six and a half times the speed of sound. At November’s Zhuhai Airshow, it displayed its J-35A — its second fifth-generation fighter — as well as a mock-up of a sixth-generation jet called the “White Emperor.” On January 6, 2025, images on Chinese social media even showed a large aircraft that may be China’s secretive H-20 stealth bomber, flying at altitudes high enough to indicate that, unlike the Chengdu and Shenyang jets, Beijing is not yet ready for a close look.

Watch on WarFronts

Watch the full video analysis on the WarFronts YouTube channel, presented by Simon Whistler.

Each of these developments, on its own, involves the kind of technology that would force the US, the EU, and other nations trying to keep pace to stop and take notice. Add them together, and it has been abundantly clear to close observers that China is placing a heavy focus on military aerospace. There is, of course, the caveat that most of these claims remain unverified beyond statements from the CCP. But the emergence of multiple secret, seemingly advanced aircraft over Chengdu puts the whole situation into perspective.

Even if not every Chinese claim reflects reality, all of them were made by a nation that could put these strange things into the sky. If that is possible, what else might be?

A Closer Look at the J-36

Any close look at these aircraft must begin with a caveat. Outside the very tightly closed doors of the Chinese defense-industrial complex, nobody on Earth is known to have studied them directly. Because of their secretive status and China’s refusal to acknowledge them, there are no state-provided performance figures, no information on internal capabilities, and certainly no external verification.

For context, the true capabilities of China’s J-20 remain entirely unknown in the public domain, and that aircraft entered service back in 2017. The same is true of America’s F-22 and Russia’s Su-57, though the F-35 has been far more widely proliferated and observed. As a result, no concrete statistics on flight performance, onboard technology, or battlefield capability can be offered for either new aircraft.

What can be done is to draw on aerospace experts who have used the available footage to reach at least superficial conclusions about design and likely intent.

Start with the larger of the two planes, the likely Chengdu product that captured most of the global headlines. Its most obvious feature is also the most striking: a complete lack of any tail. The aircraft is a modified delta-wing, with wide, sloping wings that appear to blend into the body.

That body seems to be borrowed, at least in part, from the J-20 — a conclusion reached from clear similarities in the underbelly of both aircraft. The design appears to confirm something Western intelligence has long suspected: that China has been devoting substantial resources to developing and operating roughly diamond-shaped tailless aircraft.

Such a configuration is advantageous mainly for its effect on radar signature, producing a far smaller radar return than current fifth-generation fighters. The aircraft lacks vertical stabilizers — the upright or sloped tailfins that the vast majority of modern combat aircraft carry — a decision that probably compromises maneuverability, at least somewhat. But it also overcomes a lasting deficit shared by the world’s most advanced warplanes.

While the J-20, F-35, and F-22 are very stealthy head-on, they are less so when caught on radar from the sides or rear. A smooth, tailless design — not quite a flying wing, but close to it — should massively benefit the aircraft’s radar return from all angles. Other stealthy elements are visible too: wing and fuselage contours that mirror the shaping of established stealth aircraft, and top-mounted engine exhausts that should dramatically reduce the plane’s infrared signature when viewed from the ground.

Just how stealthy the aircraft really is remains unknown, since nobody outside the CCP’s closed circle has been able to paint it with radar. But it is plausible the design is an order of magnitude stealthier than the J-20 once its deficiencies are accounted for. China claims the J-20’s stealth is directly comparable to the F-22 and F-35, though, again, verification is lacking.

Aerodynamics, Engines, and Control Surfaces

Beyond radar return, the tailless delta-wing design should have a notable impact on aerodynamics. Almost certainly, the aircraft relies on a sophisticated onboard computer to translate pilot inputs into instructions, since the flight controls of such a design are very different — even counterintuitive — compared to what is usually required of a pilot flying an advanced fighter. The configuration should grant significant reductions in drag, possibly corresponding to higher top and cruising speeds.

To compensate for the maneuverability problems inherent to a tailless layout, the plane carries five so-called control surfaces along the trailing edge of each wing, with these flaps intended to claw much of that maneuverability back. Several other control surfaces appear elsewhere on the airframe, for a total of eighteen, though how far each can deflect is unclear.

Then there is the unusual three-engine arrangement, with one air intake apparently mounted on top of the fuselage and two others on opposite sides of the underbelly. There are several possible reasons for such a design. The most obvious is simply to provide more thrust, and thus push greater overall weight through the air.

It is also possible that not all three engines serve the same function or are meant to run at once — one might have a burst function, or act as a backup if the chosen engines are known to be unreliable. There is some speculation that the third engine could provide a hypersonic scramjet function, but that prospect is unlikely based on the public understanding of scramjets.

Currently, the aircraft is thought to use the same WS-10C turbofan as the J-20, although the J-20’s engines are soon to be swapped for a more powerful replacement, the WS-15. China says the WS-15 will offer greatly improved fuel efficiency, range, maneuverability, and reliability, and it is likely the new aircraft is intended to incorporate it rather than rely on something less capable. As far as Western analysts can tell from available imagery, the jet does not appear to have thrust-vectoring nozzles — specialized nozzles that adjust the angle of thrust to send a plane veering in different directions.

The current engines may have modest thrust-vectoring capability, but nothing like what Russia’s Sukhoi fighters offer. That is an interesting omission, since thrust-vectoring is one way to offset the maneuverability limits of a tailless design.

Size, Sensors, and Mission

The other most notable feature is sheer size. Exact measurements are difficult, if not impossible, to obtain, but the aircraft appears to be roughly as long as the J-20, with a significantly broadened fuselage. The forward portion is wide enough that it could probably provide side-by-side seating for two crew members, though direct shots of the canopy are lacking.

The fact that it can squeeze in two seats does not mean it would; it could be a single-seater, a conventional tandem two-seater with a pilot in front and a second crew member behind, or even an unusual layout with one seat forward and two behind — though the purpose of such a setup would be anyone’s guess. On the nose, analysts have observed two distinct apertures, one on either side. One appears to mount a side-looking airborne radar array, potentially granting a far more expansive radar range than most fighters and opening unique tactical opportunities.

The other appears to be a radio sensor of some kind.

Moving rearward, the plane is believed to carry internal weapons bays — a critical feature of any properly stealthy aircraft — and its large size suggests significantly better fuel capacity than the J-20. More fuel and more room for weapons means the ability to fly farther, carry heavier payloads, and burst or sustain higher speeds, especially at altitude. Fuselage irregularities indicating an internal bay suggest it will be deeper and longer than the J-20’s.

As for what it could carry, that is anybody’s guess, but expert opinion broadly agrees that, at minimum, it is meant to be a long-range, heavyweight fighter similar to the American F-15 or the Russian Su-30. It could also be intended as a medium-range bomber, with an even longer range.

It bears noting that among the world’s most advanced combat aircraft, the distinction between a fighter and a bomber is far less meaningful than it once was. Hyper-advanced aircraft traditionally called bombers can now perform most fighter functions, and vice versa. The close-range dogfighting maneuverability of a light fighter matters a great deal less when cutting-edge designs can detect and engage targets hundreds of kilometers away while remaining invisible and controlling a fleet of manned and unmanned companions.

The “Sixth-Generation” Label and the Second Aircraft

A major caveat applies to both designs. Anyone who followed this story before encountering this analysis will almost certainly have seen these aircraft described as sixth-generation fighters — when, in reality, such a classification is premature. There is the overarching point that fighter “generations” are an arbitrary invention of the defense-analysis world, with no universally agreed standard for what defines a given generation.

These aircraft might be sixth-generation fighters, but by sufficiently loose criteria, almost anything could be. Beyond the theoretical, there is a practical concern: by any widely accepted definition, a sixth-generation fighter must include far more than a slick, stealthy exterior. Such aircraft are generally understood to feature sophisticated AI and data fusion, battlefield command-and-control technologies, unmanned drone wingmen, and a host of other advanced systems.

In this case, there is no way to tell whether any of that hardware or software is present in either aircraft.

The second, smaller aircraft offers fewer and lower-quality images, but still enough to draw a few conclusions. The likely Shenyang product was considerably smaller than the Chengdu jet and appears more obviously to be a tactical aircraft of some kind, likely with a more modest range and a payload capacity allowing far fewer onboard weapons. It is a twin-engine design, fed by highly angular air intakes on either side of the underbelly, and analysts have identified another feature between the engines whose function is unknown.

Its shaping suggests a very small radar cross-section, and like the Chengdu design it carries no vertical stabilizers or other tail features. There is less documentation of whatever control surfaces it relies on. Little more can be ascertained, but what is visible is enough to place it on par with the most advanced known aircraft designs on Earth.

What the Reveal Tells Us About China

With the general outline of both aircraft in somewhat better view, it is time to consider what they mean — for China’s military-industrial might and for the rest of the world. There are limits here, since so little is known beyond the simple fact of the aircraft’s existence. But at a minimum, their presence fundamentally challenges the prior understanding of China’s advanced tactical air arsenal.

Perhaps the most important takeaway is the sheer ambition involved in designing and building them. These are not the first tailless aircraft to fly — see America’s B-2 and B-21 stealth bombers — but they appear to be the first tailless aircraft believed to operate in a fighter role, something even the United States is not on record having built. For China to make the leap to its first tailless aircraft says a great deal about the broader state of its aerospace industry: that there is ample time and resources to take risks, explore new technologies, and work through the problems of making them function. The institutional will is there, the technical expertise is there, and the manufacturing capacity is there too.

Moreover, these aircraft do not appear vulnerable to the same accusations of intellectual property theft leveled at China’s fifth-generation fighters, which some analysts regard as by-products of intelligence theft years ago. At most, the larger Chengdu design might share a common base fuselage and engines with the J-20, but everything else appears indigenously engineered — to say nothing of the smaller Shenyang design, which resembles nothing in any other nation’s known arsenal. Whatever may or may not be happening under the surface, the mere fact that China designed and produced airworthy copies is a major statement in itself.

The Global Implications

Then there are the global stakes. Even without assuming anything about the technological or performance features of either aircraft, China has clearly crossed engineering benchmarks of fighter design that competitors like Russia or India almost certainly have not. It is harder to measure China against nations known to have sixth-generation fighters in development — America’s Next Generation Air Dominance program, or the collaborative sixth-generation efforts pairing Italy, Japan, and the UK on one project and France, Germany, and Spain on another.

Russia and a few others also claim sixth-generation programs, but whether there is any truth to those assertions is unclear, whereas the three Western programs are more concrete. Even if those programs have flown comparable aircraft, China was the first to publicly reveal what it had built, immediately scoring a major public-relations victory.

That China has a sophisticated aerospace design capability is no surprise to the West. But the idea that it could build and test not one but two aircraft this advanced — and be confident enough to fly them around in public, without anyone seeming to know beforehand — is a major statement on how far China has progressed relative to the competition. These flights also lend legitimacy to a range of China’s other claims. Treat those claims seriously, rather than dismissing them as vaporware, and the obvious conclusion is that China’s aerospace programs are further along than previously believed.

Existing estimates of where various Chinese initiatives stand — from the anticipated H-20 stealth bomber to the JH-XX regional fighter-bomber, to more sophisticated drone designs and more — will probably all need updating. That, in turn, demands strategic recalibration by nations that may become China’s adversaries; it requires re-evaluation of their own spending and technological priorities; and it is an open, obvious invitation to what could quickly become a sixth-generation arms race.

The Skeptic’s Case

It would be wrong to entertain only optimistic readings of China’s new aircraft without putting on the skeptic’s hat. There are alternative explanations for what appeared over Chengdu. One thing the aircraft probably are not is some sort of AI disinformation campaign. Not only would the AI used for such a deception have to be remarkably sophisticated, but disseminating it would have required a large-scale effort to feed clips and images to known sources working with journalists, alongside an intensive effort to design an aircraft that aerospace experts would examine and recognize as legitimate, despite its evident sophistication.

Assuming the aircraft are real, neither the Shenyang nor the Chengdu design is likely to have been purpose-built merely to distract or worry the international community. If a nation is going to invest that much effort into a flying distraction convincing enough to pass as a tailless stealth aircraft, it might as well design an actual tailless stealth aircraft with some combat functionality. A more believable alternative is that one or both designs could be technology demonstrators — either for aircraft that have since matured into different forms, or for programs since discontinued. If China happened to have a couple of flyable demonstrators or prototypes lying around, then flying them before the entire world would make for a valuable act of misdirection, forcing global adversaries to respond to one design while another is actually under development.

The NGAD Contrast

Regardless of whether either aircraft enters mainline production, their global reveal sent shockwaves across the world — and in particular to the United States. Here lies what may be the most damning comparison of all, between these new designs and America’s sixth-generation NGAD program. At the end of 2024, NGAD suffered a major setback, pausing for internal review by the US Air Force while the service evaluated whether the program, on its current course, was even worth pursuing.

The review did come back positive for NGAD, according to Breaking Defense, meaning the Air Force recommended to the incoming Trump administration that the US press ahead with developing a next-generation manned fighter. But even with that verdict, the contrast with China could not be starker. There is Beijing, flying aircraft the world did not know existed, out in public for a global reveal, while its primary adversary takes months to decide whether to scrap an entire program after a decade of work and start from scratch.

That telling, however, is only half the story. China’s revelations do constitute a great leap forward — that is a Mao pun, for those keeping score — but they do not mean America has been shown up yet. NGAD is widely understood to have produced at least three flying prototypes already, years ago in fact, and is believed to have already advanced a range of relevant technologies on the road to a production-ready aircraft.

By contrast, both Chinese jets are believed to have taken their first flights just months, if not weeks, before their big reveal. If true, that would put China several years behind the US on the simple measure of airworthiness — and that is before accounting for whether China has working versions of any of the technologies a next-generation aircraft requires.

It is on that technological front that the more important competition is probably taking place. Suppose the reporting is wrong and these aircraft actually first flew six years ago, multiple years ahead of the NGAD prototypes. That would be deeply impressive. But if China’s AI systems, data fusion, command-and-control capabilities, and other onboard systems are a decade behind what the US is producing, then China’s only real advantage is a cool-looking flying machine.

That is not nothing — but it is not a meaningful edge in the overall race to new fighter technology. Of course, the opposite could also be true, and China could be leaps and bounds ahead. There is simply no way to know, since neither nation appears eager to publish a full breakdown of its cutting-edge fighter tech.

America’s Response and the Foxbat Question

One lingering question has more to do with NGAD than the Chinese aircraft themselves: how America responds. The potential rethink of NGAD had something to do with technology and development concerns, but far more to do with budgetary constraints that, if erased overnight, could clear the way for a much faster program. The incoming Trump administration has already signaled an interest in surging defense funding, and now, with two unexplained new Chinese aircraft to think about, American legislators and policymakers may be substantially more willing to allocate money to NGAD if it means reclaiming or preserving whatever technological advantage America still holds.

This brings us to the final question: did China just hand America a Foxbat moment? A quick history lesson winds the clock back to the Cold War. America was once developing a Mach 3-capable bomber, the B-70 Valkyrie, meant to fly fast and high enough to evade Soviet air defenses. As those defenses improved, flying high and fast without stealth threatened to be insufficient — and the Soviets were working on more than static defenses.

America learned of a new plane under development, supposedly fast and powerful enough to intercept and shoot down the Valkyrie. Heavily propagandized by the Soviets, that aircraft would eventually be designated the MiG-25 and known in NATO nations as the Foxbat.

In reality, the Foxbat was not nearly as impressive as advertised, but America did not know that at the time. Reacting to what it believed would be a terrifying adversary, the US produced what is widely hailed as the greatest combat aircraft of its generation, the F-15 Eagle. When the US finally got its hands on a MiG-25, it discovered the object of its fear was actually a dangerous-to-fly, very niche interceptor, while the aircraft it had built in response was a high-powered, high-performance, versatile beast that could all but guarantee air supremacy across a range of environments. The Soviets talked a big game, America took them at their word, and in the end America produced something far more impressive than the Soviet aircraft ever was.

Whose Foxbat Moment Is It?

Fast forward to today, and the question returns: is China’s big reveal a 21st-century Foxbat moment? And just as importantly, whose? Is this a moment when the United States, caught off-guard by flying machines that could be anything from empty shells to production-ready sixth-generation fighters, goes into overdrive and answers with an aircraft built to beat the most dangerous possible version of these planes? Or have we witnessed the conclusion of a Chinese effort that itself might have begun with a Foxbat moment long ago — Beijing seeing advanced American fighters and resolving that it was of the utmost importance to catch up?

Perhaps, when this story is told in history books, it will be clear that neither nation truly saw this as a Foxbat moment. But more likely, both did. And when two global powers scramble at breakneck speed to respond to capabilities each fears the other is developing, the result is an arms race.

Did China checkmate America’s sixth-generation fighter program? Probably not. Does America retain a dominant edge in fighter aircraft technology? Probably not. But if either nation harbored any illusions about the kind of competition they are mutually engaged in, those illusions should now be gone. The space race and the rush to ICBMs went out of fashion a long time ago. Sixth-generation fighters are the arms race now — and that race is only just getting started.

Presented by

Simon Whistler

Simon Whistler is one of YouTube's most prolific educational creators. WarFronts is his deep dive into military history and conflict analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the J-36, and when did it first appear publicly?

The J-36 is the unofficial designation for a large tailless, stealthy Chinese military aircraft that appeared publicly over the city of Chengdu on December 26, 2024 — Mao Zedong’s 131st birthday. It is likely a product of the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation. China has not formally acknowledged the aircraft, and the J-36 name has not been confirmed by Beijing.

Why is it premature to call the J-36 a sixth-generation fighter?

Fighter “generations” are an arbitrary classification with no universally agreed standard. By any widely accepted definition, a sixth-generation fighter would need far more than a stealthy exterior — sophisticated AI and data fusion, battlefield command and control, unmanned drone wingmen, and other advanced systems. There is currently no way to tell whether any of that hardware or software is present in the J-36 or its companion.

Why does the J-36’s tailless design matter for stealth and what is the trade-off?

A tailless design, without vertical stabilizers, dramatically reduces an aircraft’s radar return from the sides and rear — angles where conventional stealth fighters like the J-20, F-35, and F-22 are less stealthy than they are head-on. The J-36 also features top-mounted engine exhausts that should reduce its infrared signature when viewed from the ground. The trade-off is some loss of maneuverability, which the design tries to recover with as many as eighteen control surfaces distributed along the trailing edge of each wing and elsewhere on the airframe.

How does the J-36 reveal compare to the status of America’s NGAD program?

At the end of 2024, NGAD paused for an internal US Air Force review, which reportedly came back supporting a manned sixth-generation fighter. NGAD is believed to have already produced at least three flying prototypes years earlier. Both Chinese jets are believed to have first flown only months or weeks before their reveal, suggesting China may be several years behind on airworthiness — though its onboard technology remains entirely unknown and may tell a different story.

What was the Cold War “Foxbat moment” and how does it apply to China’s reveal?

During the Cold War, the Soviets heavily propagandized the MiG-25, known to NATO as the Foxbat, as a powerful interceptor capable of downing America’s B-70 Valkyrie. Believing the threat, the US responded by building the F-15 Eagle, which proved far superior to the actual MiG-25. The question now is whether China’s reveal is a similar moment that spurs America into overdrive — or the culmination of a Chinese catch-up effort that itself began with a Foxbat moment when Beijing saw advanced American fighters and resolved to close the gap.