Recently emerged imagery largely confirms that China is now test-flying another tailless stealthy combat jet, although it isn’t clear if this is a crewed design or one of its new advanced drones.

A high-performance, highly autonomous uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV) with collaborative ‘loyal wingman’ capabilities is a major possibility. Still, based on the design, this could very well be yet another sixth-generation crewed jet — one that is similar to, or even would compete more directly with Shenyang’s J-XDS (also nicknamed the J-50 by some) fighter rather than Chengdu’s massive J-36 super-heavy tactical jet.

This latest development once again underscores the frantic pace of Beijing’s military aerospace developments, which include activities across a wide range of drone programs as well as advanced crewed types.

At least five images of the new design have been noted so far. In each case, it’s not clear where or when the imagery was taken. The quality and angles are historically typical of the first ‘leaks’ showing new advanced Chinese military aircraft, a practice dating back many years.

None of the images provides enough detail of the upper part of the forward fuselage to reveal whether or not a cockpit is present. There are clear attributes to this design that point to the possibility that it is a more substantial aircraft, crewed or otherwise.

Attributes

The aircraft seen in the recently emerged images has a notably pointed forward fuselage and nose section that blends into the mid-set wing midway down the fuselage. The highly swept wing has cropped tips, and the trailing edge features a prominent triangular extension, with a ‘W’-like configuration. There are no vertical stabilizers or other separate tail surfaces. The broad fuselage would appear to offer a fairly significant capacity for internal fuel and stores, although details of a weapons bay are not apparent in the available views.

In all views thus far, the aircraft is seen with its tricycle-type landing gear extended, and it may feature twin-wheel nose gear, which would be indicative of a heavier design, or perhaps one intended for carrier operations. There is an air-data probe on the nose, a feature consistent with early flight testing. Overall, the design appears to be heavily optimized for low observability, in line with the two crewed combat jets that China debuted at the end of last year. In various respects, it shares some striking similarities with the so-called J-36.

Based on the frontal and rear views of the aircraft, two ‘humps’ over the rear fuselage loosely point to a twin-engine configuration — which would be quite odd for a somewhat attritable loyal wingman drone — although many other details, as well as its overall scale, cannot be verified at this stage.

Evidence for a crewed fighter

If the new design features a cockpit, this would raise the possibility that the design may be a competitor to the Shenyang J-XDS/J-50 fighter, perhaps a product of the rival Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, which is also responsible for the much larger J-36.

It is clear that the J-36 and J-XDS are two entirely separate classes of aircraft, and that they are unlikely to be direct competitors in terms of basic design and mission goals. A Chengdu competitor to Shenyang’s sixth-generation stealth fighter would make a lot of sense in that regard. It would also explain the similarities in the design between this new aircraft and the J-36. As we noted earlier, the general design looks similar in many ways, especially the forward fuselage and nose section, as well as the general inlet configuration, to the J-36. The overall planform is also similar. A smaller twin-engine, traditionally fighter-sized cousin to the J-36 wouldn’t be a grand surprise.

A selection could be made between the J-XDS/J-50 and this new design to yield a new jet for more traditional fighter-type roles. It’s also possible that this is a carrier-optimized design. A medium sixth-generation fighter is another possibility, although this seems less likely. The scale is nearly impossible to judge with the available images.

Evidence for a drone

Meanwhile, there is speculation among some long-term Chinese aerospace observers that the new aircraft is one of multiple Chinese counterparts to the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) ‘loyal wingman’ program. At the same time, it is TWZ’s opinion that a more substantial and advanced unmanned combat air vehicle is perhaps a strong possibility, one that could still incorporate CCA teaming capabilities, but would also be better suited for independent operations.

Andreas Rupprecht, a Chinese aviation expert and contributor to this website, told TWZ that he thinks the new imagery shows one of the country’s CCA designs, although he notes that it’s significantly different from the tailless design that was spotted flying together with a pair of Y-9 turboprop transports, in imagery that emerged last month. This other design, seen in the tweets embedded below, features a modified diamond-like delta planform combined with a much simpler trailing edge.

Rupprecht views rumors that the new aircraft is a possible crewed fighter or strike aircraft, possibly even a carrier-based swing-wing design, as nothing more than that. He also notes that among the Chinese aerospace blogosphere, there are persistent rumors of multiple CCAs in development to serve as ‘loyal wingmen’ for the new sixth-generation combat jets. Within China, these drones are informally termed ‘teacups,’ in contrast to the crewed ‘teapots.’

The emergence of the new imagery comes soon after satellite imagery showing several likely CCA designs that should be publicly unveiled at an upcoming parade to be held on Sept. 3, marking the 80th anniversary of China’s victory over Japan in World War II.

A Google Earth satellite image taken on June 11, 2025, shows the drones at a military base in Yangfang, a suburb northwest of the Chinese capital of Beijing. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) regularly uses the facility to stage assets and train for large-scale parades.

Although it’s unclear from the satellite image whether the aircraft shown are mockups or real drones, there appear to be five new CCA-type designs.

In addition, the same image reveals hundreds of vehicles, including what appear to be transporter erector launchers for large ballistic missiles, as well as previously identified drone designs, such as the GJ-11 Sharp Sword stealthy flying-wing uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV).

Of those new CCA-type drones in the satellite image, four of them appear to be tailless with modified diamond-like delta and cranked-kite wings, while one looks to have a more traditional wing and tail arrangement. The designs range in length from approximately 30 to 38 feet (nine to 12 meters), and in wingspan from 20 to 35 feet (six to 11 meters).

The fact that the drones in the satellite image are partly concealed by tarpaulins, as well as the relatively low resolution, means it’s not immediately clear if one of them matches the new imagery of the drone being test-flown. A newer image (seen below) offers greater detail, but still, there doesn’t appear to be a direct match. However, with so many apparent CCA designs being developed, it wouldn’t be abnormal to not include all of them in the parade.

Regardless, it is now inevitable that CCA-type designs will be part of the Sept. 3 parade, which officials have already said will feature unspecified “new-type combat capabilities.”

It should also be noted that another next-generation fighter-like airframe or mockup with a modified diamond-like delta platform emerged at Shenyang’s main plant earlier this year, as TWZ was first to report. While it’s unclear if this is a crewed or uncrewed design, it certainly appears to be larger (roughly 50 feet/15 meters) than any of the possible CCA drones seen in the satellite image of Yangfang. At the same time, its configuration also doesn’t correspond with either of the two apparent new tailless mystery aircraft that have been seen flying.

Very clearly, China is busily developing a range of ‘loyal wingman’ type drones, as well as the crewed-uncrewed teaming capabilities that will be required to operate them effectively.

Among the first Chinese drones to be associated with these efforts was the aforementioned GJ-11 UCAV. This is widely understood to be a centerpiece of China’s uncrewed combat aircraft plans. However, the GJ-11 is as much a UCAV as a CCA and will likely have other roles, including independent operations, beyond any teaming duties with crewed aircraft. Beijing has also revealed various other lower-tier uncrewed designs that have been designed specifically to operate in conjunction with crewed aircraft. Examples include the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s (CASC) FH-97 and FH-97A, which appear to be heavily influenced by the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie and Boeing Australia MQ-28 Ghost Bat, respectively.

At the same time, there are many signs of Chinese programs to adapt crewed aircraft to operate closely with collaborative drones. The two-seat J-20S stealth fighter has been regularly depicted in official graphics as an airborne drone controller, a role that TWZ noted would be ideal for it when it first appeared.

The KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft is also widely considered to be envisaged as a key node within China’s future crewed-uncrewed air combat ecosystem. Beijing has also explored using H-6 missile carrier aircraft as launch platforms for lower-end tactical drones.

Right now, the developments in Chinese military aerospace are fascinating to watch, and the proliferation of new drone designs is likely a particular cause for concern among potential adversaries. These drones also make a highly intriguing parallel to the U.S. Air Force’s CCAs.

The first two of these, the General Atomics YFQ-42A and Anduril YFQ-44A, are in development, with first flights planned for next year. In the future, the U.S. Air Force and other branches of the U.S. military plan to field multiple CCA types acquired through iterative development cycles. The latest developments from China suggest that the PLA might well be planning something similar, and the Sept. 3 parade may well yield still more details in this regard.

Ultimately, it seems China is also set on harnessing the potential of advanced autonomous aviation capabilities, aided by developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, to field drones that will be able to operate increasingly independently from crewed platforms. This could also include networked swarms, something that Beijing is actively working on for smaller-scale drones.

With all this in mind, this aircraft could be a higher-performance counterpart to the GJ-11, capable of flying longer distances with greater payloads than smaller CCAs, as well as being more readily capable of independent operations. This would be a useful companion for longer-range aircraft, like the H-6, J-36, and future H-20 bomber. Until we get a better idea of the scale when it comes to this new aircraft, we just won’t know for sure.

What we do know is that the aircraft seen in the new images once again underlines the rapid pace of development in the Chinese military aerospace sector and its capacity to spring surprises on an increasingly regular basis.

Update, August 5, 12:00 p.m. ET:

There is some dispute over the underside image among voices in the Chinese aerospace observer community. Some claim the bottom was cloned from the J-36. This is not possible. The geometry and positions/configuration of major features are different. As we discussed, it looks like elements of the design are similar to the J-36 in scaled-down form, but the central fuselage features are not identical. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a forgery, but it is not cloned directly.

The wings look off to some. This may be the case due to the bank angle and the lack of features/low quality of the image combined with an exotic airframe or the image could have been altered, which would not be all that surprising. The provenance of ‘leaked’ images of aircraft out of China is very murky and images are often outright altered to obscure sensitive details and create inconsistencies. As always, this is an imperfect business, so everything must be taken with a grain of salt.

We would put the status of this image at contested at this time. Considering how these roll-outs usually go, we will be getting more images of higher quality soon as the aircraft proceeds through early flight test.