China’s stealth revolution just kicked into overdrive, as a rapidly evolved J-36 prototype signals its audacious bid to outpace the US in the race for next-generation air dominance.
Last month, multiple media outlets reported that images circulating on Chinese social media appear to show a second prototype of China’s large three-engine stealth aircraft, unofficially dubbed the J-36. The imagery shows it taking flight near the military-industrial hub of Chengdu, roughly 10 months after the first airframe surfaced in late December 2024.
The new prototype features significant structural changes, including revised intakes, a re-engineered landing-gear system and a new exhaust layout, while retaining the earlier model’s delta configuration and side-by-side cockpit.
The earlier prototype used recessed exhausts similar to the YF-23 to reduce infrared signature, while the latest aircraft adopts flat, two-dimensional thrust-vectoring nozzles akin to those on the US F-22. That suggests designers may be trading a degree of stealth for enhanced maneuverability and control authority at high angles of attack.
The revised diverterless supersonic inlets and a shift from tandem to side-by-side main landing gear point to ongoing aerodynamic and structural refinement, likely aimed at improving ground handling, internal volume and airflow stability.
The rapid iteration underscores China’s accelerated fighter development and its ambition to field a long-range, air-superiority platform capable of controlling unmanned assets, consistent with US Air Force assessments describing the type as a potential 6th-generation design.
The plane’s powerplants remain unconfirmed, with speculation centering on WS-10 engines for testing — a potential stopgap pending a mature high-thrust WS-15.
The pace of these visible airframe changes is rare in modern fighter development, where programs often evolve across years rather than months. The rapid evolution of China’s next-generation fighter may belie a leapfrogging approach to maintain air superiority.
Air Vice-Marshal James Beck of the Royal Air Force (RAF) was quoted in a Business Insider article last month, saying that 5th-generation fighters are now the baseline and standard entry for any attempt to temporarily take control of the skies, even against the most basic threats.
However, most air forces – even those of the US and China – still rely on 4th-generation aircraft. While inferior to 5th-generation fighters, 4th-generation fighters offer numerical depth, cost-effectiveness, and greater readiness than the former.
Still, Beck points out that the Russia-Ukraine war shows how difficult it is to penetrate heavily defended airspace, showing situations where 6th-generation fighters may be needed.
6th-generation jets are expected to incorporate AI, operate in conjunction with autonomous combat drones and boast improved stealth, longer range and higher overall combat effectiveness.
While Beck cautions that the development of 6th-generation fighters should be evolutionary – measured in decades and not days – China’s rapid rollout of next-generation fighters may turn that logic on its head.
Underpinning that leapfrogging approach may be China’s belief that disruptive technology can offset conventional disadvantages, akin to “overtaking on a curve” – investment in radical innovation and bypassing legacy systems can pioneer new operational concepts, reshape the nature of conflict to its advantage and ultimately bring strategic superiority.
In the context of fighter aircraft, China’s possible accelerated development of 6th-generation fighters could give it significant qualitative advantages through leveraging technology, instead of trying to match the US in terms of airframe numbers.
But even as China flaunts its next-generation aircraft, 5th-generation US fighters are slated to receive continuous upgrades to keep them viable until the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program gets up to speed.
In July 2025, The War Zone (TWZ) reported that the F-22 is undergoing a comprehensive upgrade under the “F-22 Capability Pipeline” to ensure its viability through the 2030s.
According to the report, key enhancements include the integration of the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), improved electronic warfare systems, and advanced sensors to counter evolving threats. It also states that the upgrades also encompass enhanced cockpit displays, improved radar and open-systems architecture to facilitate rapid software updates.
Similarly, TWZ reported in April 2025 that Lockheed Martin is transforming the F-35 into a “5th-generation plus” fighter by integrating advanced technologies from its failed NGAD bid, aiming to deliver 80% of 6th-generation capabilities at half the cost.
TWZ notes that this so-called “NASCAR upgrade” leverages the F-35’s adaptable airframe to incorporate new stealth materials, geometries, countermeasures and enhanced sensors like passive infrared and radar for superior situational awareness. The upgrade package includes AI autonomy, crewed-uncrewed teaming, and upgraded command-and-control systems, the TWZ report said.
The US has opted for opacity over spectacle, quietly flying NGAD prototypes before revealing anything publicly. Christian Orr mentions in the National Security Journal (NSJ) article last month that the US Air Force had sixth-generation NGAD demonstrators in the air as early as 2019, years ahead of public expectations, in a classified effort to outpace China’s future fighters.
But even with those improvements to the US 5th-generation fighters, alongside NGAD’s progress slowly picking up the pace, China’s 5th-generation fighter production edge may still be an advantage.
Industrial capacity may prove just as decisive. Brandon Weichert points out in a September 2025 article for The National Interest (TNI) that while the US has the world’s largest 5th-generation fleet with 185 F-22s and 400 F-35s spread across the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, China is believed to have more than 300 J-20s with five production lines – capable of producing a new aircraft every eight days.
Weichert also notes that while China has only a handful of J-35 fighters, it aims for a production rate of 50 units annually. Even if the US has more 5th-generation fighters than China, he emphasizes that the F-35’s low production rate of 140 aircraft per year, despite a 20-year lead, could allow China to surpass the F-35 fleet in two or three years.
He stresses that even if the US has a technologically superior fleet of F-22s and F-35s, those aircraft are scattered around the world. At the same time, he says China could focus its airpower within the First Island Chain – a string of Pacific islands stretching from Japan through Taiwan and the Philippines to Borneo, seen as a key strategic barrier between China and the open Pacific – to ensure regional quantitative superiority.
Weichert emphasizes that the US defense-industrial base in its current condition may not be able to keep up with China’s production base quantitatively.
Emphasizing the need to expand US fighter numbers, Breaking Defense reported last month that the US Air Force has sounded an urgent call to expand its fighter fleet, warning that current inventory levels are insufficient to meet global demands amid rising threats from China and Russia.
According to Breaking Defense, the US Air Force argues that it lacks the capacity to sustain high-end conflict and deterrence simultaneously, with only 45 fighter squadrons—down from 134 during the Cold War.
The report mentions that US Air Force leaders advocate for a mix of upgraded legacy platforms and next-generation systems like NGAD and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) to restore numerical and technological superiority.
The US still has the edge, but if complacency and bureaucracy drag while China accelerates, the next generation of airpower is likely to take flight in Asia, not America.
