China's sixth-generation fighter jet spotted? Tailless, mysterious combat aircraft leads to speculations

It has long been suspected that China has been working on a sixth-generation combat aircraft programme. Now, in what appears to be a confirmation of this, social media has been flooded with images and videos of a tailless stealth combat jet conducting a daytime test flight.

The sixth-generation aircraft, which is expected to surpass the capabilities of current fifth-generation fighters, is still in the development phase in many countries, including the US and China.

The new aircraft, said to be at least as long as the 70-feet J-20, was seen alongside a J-20S, the twin-seat variant of China's Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter. While it is not exactly known where the test flight was conducted, it could possibly be at the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) factory airfield as it was accompanied by a J-20S.

Although the Chinese ministry of defense or state media is yet to come out with an official comment on the fighter jet, there were enough indications that China's sixth-generation fighters would be tailless.

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There are indications that the aircraft has a three-engine arrangement which is extremely unorthodox, necessitated possibly by the aggressive performance goals, especially at high-altitude and at high speeds.

The tailless configuration is expected to enhance the stealth capabilities of the fighter jet by reducing the radar signature across multiple bands. However, according to a report by The War Zone, a tailless configuration can adversely affect overall maneuverability.

According to the website, “...if procured in an operation form by the PLAAF, it would be able to fly over long regional distances and loiter for extended periods on station far from home without tanker support - something China lacks in terms of capacity versus the United States.”

“Its size and arrangement tentatively suggest that this is the long-awaited J/H-XX ‘regional bomber’, designed to provide a low observable high-altitude precision strike capability against bases and possibly ships throughout the Indo-Pacific,” Aviation Week quoted Justin Bronk, senior research fellow for Airpower and Technology at the Royal United Services Institute, as saying.