New Footage of Alleged Chinese 6th-gen Fighter Emerges, Appears to Show Smooth Progress: Expert

One of the videos on Sina Weibo was reposted by Naval & Merchant Ships, a popular Chinese magazine on military affairs that also ran a cover story about China’s sixth-generation fighter jets for its March edition.

The aircraft, nicknamed by netizens as the "ginkgo leaf" due to its appearance, was taken on camera this time with its landing gears retracted, with no other aircraft accompanying it. When the aircraft first emerged in December last year, it was videoed with its landing gears lowered and accompanied by a J-20S dual seat fighter jet.

The authenticity of the videos and images remains unverified. The date and location of the alleged new flight test were also not given.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Monday that if the footage turns out to be authentic, it would mean that the new aircraft is making smooth progress with test flights in short intervals.

Retracted landing gears could mean that the flight tested systems related to the landing gears, while also testing the aircraft’s aerodynamic capabilities as the landing gears are retracted, Song said.

Wang Ya’nan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Monday that the short interval between test flights and the retraction of landing gears could show the developers’ confidence in the aircraft’s flight stability.

The aircraft is likely still in a very early phase in testing its flight performances, Wang said, expecting further tests on other functionalities to gradually take place in a considerably lengthy period.

Wang’s magazine also featured sixth-generation fighter jets as a cover story in March.

China has not officially announced the development of next-generation fighter jets, but there have been some hints.

As early as 2022, during that year’s Airshow China held in Zhuhai, South China’s Guangdong Province, the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China displayed a concept model of a next-generation fighter jet, which had a tailless design similar to the “ginkgo leaf” aircraft.

On January 1, a music video released by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command featured a scene showing a ginkgo leaf and a bird. This triggered netizens' associations to the alleged debuts of China's sixth-generation fighter jets that had been circulating on social media at the time.

The bird resembled another new aircraft which also became known to the public on social media in December 2024 in addition to the “ginkgo leaf” aircraft, according to US media outlet the Warzone at the time.

Wang said he believes that what people now call the sixth-generation fighter jets might be demonstrators developed to make explorations for China’s next-generation fighter jet. He noted that China appears to be testing and learning from multiple demonstrators.

This article was originally published by the Global Times.