Sixth-generation aircraft that appeared in the skies over China in December 2024 are likely intended for an air superiority role.
That is the conclusion of the general in charge of the US Air Force’s fighter fleet, who spoke at an Air & Space Forces Association event in Denver, Colorado on 4 March.
“Those sixth-generation aircraft, we believe, are for air superiority,” said General Kenneth Wilsbach, head of Air Combat Command, which manages the USAF’s fighter, reconnaissance and electronic warfare fleets.
Two previously unknown jet types were seen in-flight in December, with one documented over the western city of Chengdu, home of Chinese fighter developer Chengdu Aerospace Corporation. The Chengdu aircraft’s designation is unknown, but Internet pundits have labeled it ‘J-36.’
The other, smaller aircraft appeared in the skies over Shenyang. As witht the J-36, it has no official designation, but pundits have labelled it ‘J-50’.
Footage of both appeared on Chinese social media on 26 December 2024. Since that time, no further images or videos have emerged.
Both designs included low-observable features such as a lack of vertical stabilisers, internal weapons bays and blended-wing fuselages. Communist party authorities in Beijing have not officially acknowledged the new jets, nor offered any hints as to their intended purpose.
Little is also known about the actual capability of the two aircraft, other than what can be inferred based on images and video posted to Chinese social media. The larger of the two aircraft featured an unusual triple-engined configuration, with three air intakes and thrust outlets visible, leading to speculation it is meant to be a new deep penetration strike platform.
Whatever their mission, the appearance of new advanced combat aircraft appears to be weighing on the minds of key figures in Washington, who are awaiting a decision on the future of the USAF’s own sixth-generation development initiative.
That programme, known as Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD), is currently in limbo as the Trump Administration’s nominee to be the civilian leader of the air force awaits confirmation by the US Senate.
Speaking on 3 March, USAF chief of staff General David Allvin said the new air force secretary will review the programme and decide its future. Fromer secretary Frank Kendall paused the NGAD development effort in 2024, citing per-aircraft costs that were unacceptably high.
Kendall had described NGAD as “essentially an F-22 replacement”, exactly the type of platform that would be used to counter advanced Chinese aircraft in an Indo-Pacific conflict.
“We have some choices to make as we observe what China has produced,” Wilsbach says. “What are we going to do about it? I don’t believe that nothing is an option.”
Wilsbach, who is rated on the Boeing F-15C, Lockheed Martin F-16C and F-22, and other senior USAF leaders in Denver made the case that Washington still needs to invest in air superiority, despite a wide advantage in fielding fifth-generation aircraft.
“Fiscal constraints do not change what it takes to win,” says Major General Joseph Kunkel, who oversees force design and wargaming for the air force.
“If America doesn’t want to make those investments, then we’ll take more risk,” he adds.
The two officers cite the ongoing war in Ukraine, which both describe as a stalemate, as a cautionary tale for what happens when neither side in a conflict can achieve air superiority.
“If one side had air superiority, the fight would have ended in three days,” Kunkel argues.
Wilsbach notes that although air superiority conjures images of dogfighting and air-to-air combat, what it really means is denying an adversary the ability to manoeuvre troops, resupply forces and conduct naval operations.
“If you don’t have air and space superiority, you will not be able to, or you will have a very difficult time, achieving any of those other objectives,” he says.
Retired Lieutenant General David Deptula, a former F-15C pilot who now manages the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies think tank, notes air superiority is also key to “denying the adversary the ability to conduct an effective defence”.
While stopping just short of outright advocating for a revival of the stalled NGAD fighter, the rhetoric is clearly intended to generate support for the programme, as Donald Trump’s Pentagon moves to cut overall spending and reallocate existing funds within the department of defense.
The key decision comes as the top US officer in the Indo-Pacific recently warned that Chinese military forces are now preparing for a campaign to forcibly bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control.
“It’s no longer training, it’s rehearsal,” said Admiral Samuel Paparo at the Honolulu Defense Forum in February.
Other senior officials at that event told FlightGlobal on background that such a campaign would likely begin with a Chinese blockade of the disputed island, at which point Washington would have to decide whether or not to come to Taiwan’s aid.
Such a contingency would put the USAF’s theories on air superiority to the test, with China’s numerically superior and increasingly modern air force seeking establish dominance over Taiwan’s defenders in the air and on the ground.
