China’s New ‘NGAD’ J-50 6th-Generation Fighter Is Built for 1 Mission

China’s new 6th generation fighter, the J-50, has appeared on Chinese social media, and Internet users are excited about its debut. The fighter could already be in test and evaluation mode. The fighter has one mission: to compete with America’s best fighter jets. 

 The J-50 was seen in photos on China’s Weibo micro-blogging site in the first week of April. The fighter taxied and flew in a low altitude near Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s plant in Liaoning Province.

The Chinese military made no announcement, but observers could discern that the airplane has “a sharply swept wing design, ventral intakes, and a smooth radar-absorbent fuselage,” according to ArmyRecognition.com. The J-50 has no vertical stabilizers.

This is an attempt by designers and engineers to grant it high levels of radar evasion.

Is This the Chinese NGAD?

The airplane “features a lambda-shaped, blended wing-body structure.” To increase stealthiness, it appears the fighter has internal weapons bays to minimize its radar signature. This attribute is similar to what the American Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) F-47 has.

Advanced Technologies Are Worth Examining 

While it is too early to speculate, the J-50 will likely have advanced artificial intelligence in the cockpit – perhaps audible chatbots to help the pilot with controls. The Chinese next-generation fighter will probably have the ability to be a “drone quarterback” to control a flight of drones that conduct reconnaissance collection and perform electronic warfare capabilities.

The J-50 could also launch hypersonic weapons and might even fly into near space altitudes and use a laser to destroy enemy satellites. The coatings of the airplane will have advanced composites and electronic cloaking for better stealthiness. There may also be an unmanned version of the fighter. 

High Speed with Supercruise

The airplane is expected to have next-generation engines that can use thrust vectoring to enable at least MACH 2 and perhaps MACH 3 speed with high altitude and supercruise ability. 

The Chinese have developed the J-20 Mighty Dragon fifth-generation fighter and the J-50 is the next step in aviation evolution that can be attributed to a better aerospace industrial base in China. This is supposed to be an original build rather than copying features of American airplanes. 

China may have been working on the J-50 since 2018. They are looking to produce it in numbers by 2030 and that will come at the same time as the F-47 NGAD.

Three Versions Possible Including a Carrier-based Model 

One interesting aspect of the J-50 is that it could have three versions, like the F-35. The ‘A’ variant would serve as the conventional take-off model for the air force. The ‘B’ version would be a vertical take-off and landing and the ‘C’ model could be launched and recovered by an aircraft carrier.

This would give the Chinese a great advantage in creating next-generation flights in the navy for greater range and the ability to add stealth airplanes to the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) flight strategy.

The J-50 raises the regional stakes as other air forces attempt to keep up. Japan is a partner in the next-generation Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) fighter with Italy and the United Kingdom. India is working on a new Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft.   

Would China Sell the J-50 Abroad?

The J-50 also competes with the United States for global supremacy in stealth flight. The U.S. Air Force will have to watch out for the Chinese and their habit of stealing features from American designs. The J-50 could also be available for the export market.

This would allow Beijing to conduct “fighter plane diplomacy” and create more allies with next-generation aircraft sales. The J-50 could be sold to partners such as Pakistan or Saudi Arabia and would give Israel something to worry about. It does not appear that Israel is interested in developing its own version of the F-47 NGAD.

For now, the Israelis are buying more F-35s so the country can transform the Lightning II into their highly-successful F-35I Adir model.

China should be credited for its aerospace industrial base, which has improved dramatically over the last two decades. They have a penchant for secrecy, allowing the netizens to discuss the new airplanes on social media. This builds up the excitement and suspense to send a message to adversaries that next-generation flight is progressing nicely in China.

Look for the J-50 to fly at an air show later this year so the Chinese can demonstrate that their homegrown defense contractors are world-class. The Europeans and the Americans will have to up their game because China is forging ahead with the J-50.

However, there is a chance that the new airplane could be merely a test bed for new technologies and not the final design for the warbird. We’ll keep you posted as more sightings of the J-50 are sure to happen.

About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.