China’s 6th-Gen J-36 Aircraft Joins 5th-Gen J-20 Stealth Jet Marking New Era in Air Superiority
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Footage dated Oct. 31 shows China’s experimental J-36 stealth aircraft flying in formation with a J-20 near Chengdu, indicating paired testing with an operational fifth-generation fighter. If sustained, this points to mixed-generation strike packages and manned teaming concepts that matter for U.S. planning in the Indo-Pacific.
On 31 October 2025, videos shared across Chinese and international social media showed what is identified as China’s new sixth-generation J-36 stealth aircraft flying in formation with a J-20, most likely the twin-seat J-20S, near the facilities of Chengdu Aircraft Corporation. This is the first publicly visible instance of a combined flight between a sixth-generation Chinese platform and an operational fifth-generation fighter. The footage suggests that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force is now testing not only the J-36 airframe but also its integration with existing combat aircraft. At a time of accelerating Sino-US competition in airpower, the decision to let such imagery emerge is strategically significant for regional and Western defence planners.
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China’s J-36 is a sixth-generation stealth prototype focused on long range sensing and teaming, while the J-20 is a fifth-generation PLAAF stealth fighter that serves as its frontline air superiority jet (Picture Source: Chinese Social Media)
The videos clearly show the size gap between the two aircraft: the J-36 is visibly longer and broader than the J-20, with a deeper fuselage and larger planform, pointing to a role closer to a stealthy fighter-bomber or very-heavy tactical platform with generous internal bays for long-range air-to-air missiles, stand-off precision weapons or large surveillance payloads. This matches earlier public imagery from December 26, 2024, and from spring 2025, when a tailless, diamond-shaped, possibly three-engine aircraft bearing the number “36” was filmed taking off and being followed by a twin-seat J-20S acting as chase plane. The J-20S, confirmed by Chinese state-owned AVIC in 2024, was explicitly designed to give the back-seater the ability to manage sensors and command manned-unmanned teams, which makes it a logical companion for an aircraft still in the experimental phase. The PLAAF therefore seems to be using a mature fifth-generation platform to gather telemetry, optical footage and potentially to inject or receive data from the new jet, accelerating its evaluation.
The J-36 itself is assessed to be China’s entry in the global race for sixth-generation air combat. Observed features include a tailless configuration to reduce radar signature from all aspects, wide-chord wings for greater internal volume and fuel, and multiple intakes positioned on the upper fuselage, all consistent with a platform intended to fly deep, stay stealthy and deliver heavy loads at long range. Its overall geometry also aligns with earlier Chinese presentations of sixth-generation concepts and with the expectation that a future Chinese system of systems will rely on a central, high-bandwidth, highly automated node acting as both striker and airborne command post. In that sense, the aircraft now seen over Chengdu looks less like a pure air-superiority fighter than like a multi-role, long-reach asset able to supervise collaborative combat aircraft, loyal-wingman drones and, when needed, legacy manned fighters.
By contrast, the J-20 is a known quantity. First flown in 2011 and introduced into PLAAF combat units later in the decade, it is a fifth-generation air-superiority fighter with internal weapon bays, advanced sensors, growing data-link capacity and, since 2024, prototypes powered by indigenous WS-15 engines, which gives it better performance at altitude and more electrical power for sensors. The arrival of the J-20S twin-seater added an operator dedicated to mission management, long-range air-to-air engagements, precision strike and control of unmanned systems. It is exactly this variant that appears in the 31 October 2025 videos, which fits with earlier tests in December 2024 where the two-seat J-20S escorted the new aircraft. Pairing a fifth-generation aircraft already qualified in PLAAF service with a heavy, unfielded sixth-generation platform, therefore allows Chinese engineers to validate communications, sensor fusion, cooperative targeting and flight-safety procedures without taking the risk of flying two immature prototypes together.
From an operational point of view, a combined J-36/J-20 flight indicates that the PLAAF is exploring mixed-generation strike packages. In such a package, the J-36, thanks to its volume, range and internal bays, would push first into a contested bubble as a stealthy pathfinder, carrying sensors and long-range weapons or acting as an airborne controller. The J-20S would stay slightly offset, fusing the J-36’s data with its own picture, securing the airspace against hostile fighters and providing the human-in-the-loop layer for complex engagements. This would mirror what the US Air Force intends to do with NGAD and F-35/F-22 fleets: a new, very expensive platform does not replace existing fifth-generation jets but orchestrates them, extends their reach and leverages their numbers. For China, whose western Pacific scenarios require penetrating the dense intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and integrated air-defence networks of the United States and its allies, such a construct is indispensable. A heavy sixth-generation jet could, for example, enter first to map emissions and to drop powered decoys; the J-20s behind it would then prosecute air targets or escort long-range shooters such as H-6K bombers or unmanned combat air vehicles.
The timing and the public nature of the formation flight have strategic resonance. There was no visible attempt by Chinese authorities to scrub the content from social media, unlike other sensitive programs, which suggests at least tacit approval and a desire to demonstrate technological continuity from fifth to sixth generation. Beijing is sending three parallel messages. First, to Washington and to the Western defence community, that the PLAAF is not merely catching up but opening its own path toward sixth-generation airpower, potentially narrowing the lead of US Next Generation Air Dominance before it reaches initial operating capability. Second, to regional actors such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Australia, all engaged in ambitious air-combat modernization, that China is prepared to field aircraft specifically designed to penetrate their air-defence systems, complicate their kill chains and threaten offshore bases and naval task groups. Third, to Taiwan and to US forces operating around the first island chain, that the PLAAF is working on long-range, stealthy strike and command platforms that, once mature, could supervise drone swarms, saturate defences and hold key nodes at risk without exposing large numbers of manned aircraft.
Geostrategically, this step also locks in the industrial momentum of China’s two main combat-aircraft houses, Chengdu and Shenyang. Since December 2024, both have been seen testing novel tailless designs; showing the J-36 in close company with a service-standard J-20S tells domestic audiences and export prospects that Chengdu’s line is moving from experimental demonstrator to integrated capability. It may also be intended to complicate Western intelligence assessments by creating ambiguity: analysts must now determine whether the aircraft is a future air-dominance fighter, a stealth bomber in the JH-XX tradition, or a multi-role C2 platform. Ambiguity is itself a tool: if Washington and allied planners must plan against several plausible roles, they must spread resources thinner across air-defence, counter-air and long-range strike responses.
What emerges from the 31 October 2025 footage is that the J-36 is no longer an isolated prototype occasionally captured by spotters, but an aircraft now flown in orchestrated, multi-ship configurations with frontline PLAAF assets. That marks the passage from proof-of-concept flights, aimed at showing that the jet can take off, land and maneuver, to operationally representative testing, where communications, roles and tactics are exercised. For defence planners watching China’s rapid military-aviation rise, the message is unambiguous: Beijing is preparing to operate sixth-generation aircraft not as museum pieces or political symbols but as the central node of a layered, networked, long-range strike and air-superiority system able to contest the western Pacific in the 2030s.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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Footage dated Oct. 31 shows China’s experimental J-36 stealth aircraft flying in formation with a J-20 near Chengdu, indicating paired testing with an operational fifth-generation fighter. If sustained, this points to mixed-generation strike packages and manned teaming concepts that matter for U.S. planning in the Indo-Pacific.
On 31 October 2025, videos shared across Chinese and international social media showed what is identified as China’s new sixth-generation J-36 stealth aircraft flying in formation with a J-20, most likely the twin-seat J-20S, near the facilities of Chengdu Aircraft Corporation. This is the first publicly visible instance of a combined flight between a sixth-generation Chinese platform and an operational fifth-generation fighter. The footage suggests that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force is now testing not only the J-36 airframe but also its integration with existing combat aircraft. At a time of accelerating Sino-US competition in airpower, the decision to let such imagery emerge is strategically significant for regional and Western defence planners.
China’s J-36 is a sixth-generation stealth prototype focused on long range sensing and teaming, while the J-20 is a fifth-generation PLAAF stealth fighter that serves as its frontline air superiority jet (Picture Source: Chinese Social Media)
The videos clearly show the size gap between the two aircraft: the J-36 is visibly longer and broader than the J-20, with a deeper fuselage and larger planform, pointing to a role closer to a stealthy fighter-bomber or very-heavy tactical platform with generous internal bays for long-range air-to-air missiles, stand-off precision weapons or large surveillance payloads. This matches earlier public imagery from December 26, 2024, and from spring 2025, when a tailless, diamond-shaped, possibly three-engine aircraft bearing the number “36” was filmed taking off and being followed by a twin-seat J-20S acting as chase plane. The J-20S, confirmed by Chinese state-owned AVIC in 2024, was explicitly designed to give the back-seater the ability to manage sensors and command manned-unmanned teams, which makes it a logical companion for an aircraft still in the experimental phase. The PLAAF therefore seems to be using a mature fifth-generation platform to gather telemetry, optical footage and potentially to inject or receive data from the new jet, accelerating its evaluation.
The J-36 itself is assessed to be China’s entry in the global race for sixth-generation air combat. Observed features include a tailless configuration to reduce radar signature from all aspects, wide-chord wings for greater internal volume and fuel, and multiple intakes positioned on the upper fuselage, all consistent with a platform intended to fly deep, stay stealthy and deliver heavy loads at long range. Its overall geometry also aligns with earlier Chinese presentations of sixth-generation concepts and with the expectation that a future Chinese system of systems will rely on a central, high-bandwidth, highly automated node acting as both striker and airborne command post. In that sense, the aircraft now seen over Chengdu looks less like a pure air-superiority fighter than like a multi-role, long-reach asset able to supervise collaborative combat aircraft, loyal-wingman drones and, when needed, legacy manned fighters.
By contrast, the J-20 is a known quantity. First flown in 2011 and introduced into PLAAF combat units later in the decade, it is a fifth-generation air-superiority fighter with internal weapon bays, advanced sensors, growing data-link capacity and, since 2024, prototypes powered by indigenous WS-15 engines, which gives it better performance at altitude and more electrical power for sensors. The arrival of the J-20S twin-seater added an operator dedicated to mission management, long-range air-to-air engagements, precision strike and control of unmanned systems. It is exactly this variant that appears in the 31 October 2025 videos, which fits with earlier tests in December 2024 where the two-seat J-20S escorted the new aircraft. Pairing a fifth-generation aircraft already qualified in PLAAF service with a heavy, unfielded sixth-generation platform, therefore allows Chinese engineers to validate communications, sensor fusion, cooperative targeting and flight-safety procedures without taking the risk of flying two immature prototypes together.
From an operational point of view, a combined J-36/J-20 flight indicates that the PLAAF is exploring mixed-generation strike packages. In such a package, the J-36, thanks to its volume, range and internal bays, would push first into a contested bubble as a stealthy pathfinder, carrying sensors and long-range weapons or acting as an airborne controller. The J-20S would stay slightly offset, fusing the J-36’s data with its own picture, securing the airspace against hostile fighters and providing the human-in-the-loop layer for complex engagements. This would mirror what the US Air Force intends to do with NGAD and F-35/F-22 fleets: a new, very expensive platform does not replace existing fifth-generation jets but orchestrates them, extends their reach and leverages their numbers. For China, whose western Pacific scenarios require penetrating the dense intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and integrated air-defence networks of the United States and its allies, such a construct is indispensable. A heavy sixth-generation jet could, for example, enter first to map emissions and to drop powered decoys; the J-20s behind it would then prosecute air targets or escort long-range shooters such as H-6K bombers or unmanned combat air vehicles.
The timing and the public nature of the formation flight have strategic resonance. There was no visible attempt by Chinese authorities to scrub the content from social media, unlike other sensitive programs, which suggests at least tacit approval and a desire to demonstrate technological continuity from fifth to sixth generation. Beijing is sending three parallel messages. First, to Washington and to the Western defence community, that the PLAAF is not merely catching up but opening its own path toward sixth-generation airpower, potentially narrowing the lead of US Next Generation Air Dominance before it reaches initial operating capability. Second, to regional actors such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Australia, all engaged in ambitious air-combat modernization, that China is prepared to field aircraft specifically designed to penetrate their air-defence systems, complicate their kill chains and threaten offshore bases and naval task groups. Third, to Taiwan and to US forces operating around the first island chain, that the PLAAF is working on long-range, stealthy strike and command platforms that, once mature, could supervise drone swarms, saturate defences and hold key nodes at risk without exposing large numbers of manned aircraft.
Geostrategically, this step also locks in the industrial momentum of China’s two main combat-aircraft houses, Chengdu and Shenyang. Since December 2024, both have been seen testing novel tailless designs; showing the J-36 in close company with a service-standard J-20S tells domestic audiences and export prospects that Chengdu’s line is moving from experimental demonstrator to integrated capability. It may also be intended to complicate Western intelligence assessments by creating ambiguity: analysts must now determine whether the aircraft is a future air-dominance fighter, a stealth bomber in the JH-XX tradition, or a multi-role C2 platform. Ambiguity is itself a tool: if Washington and allied planners must plan against several plausible roles, they must spread resources thinner across air-defence, counter-air and long-range strike responses.
What emerges from the 31 October 2025 footage is that the J-36 is no longer an isolated prototype occasionally captured by spotters, but an aircraft now flown in orchestrated, multi-ship configurations with frontline PLAAF assets. That marks the passage from proof-of-concept flights, aimed at showing that the jet can take off, land and maneuver, to operationally representative testing, where communications, roles and tactics are exercised. For defence planners watching China’s rapid military-aviation rise, the message is unambiguous: Beijing is preparing to operate sixth-generation aircraft not as museum pieces or political symbols but as the central node of a layered, networked, long-range strike and air-superiority system able to contest the western Pacific in the 2030s.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
