Yes, China Just Flew Another Tailless Next-Generation Stealth Combat Aircraft

A video and several photos of the second , apparently smaller aircraft began to emerge today .

Unconfirmed reports suggest the Shenyang design is a prototype fighter made its first flight on Dec 20 this year .

The second aircraft design was shown in some of the photos being “chased” by a Flanker -series fighter, perhaps a two -seat J-16 , which would lend further support to the idea that it is a Shenyang product.

Beijing deliberately ensured that the two new designs broke cover today , for maximum impact.

Dec. 26 is the birthdate of Mao Zedong , founder of the People’s Republic of China ( PRC ) It is exactly 13 years to the day that the J-20 first broke cover.

In both cases, we cannot currently confirm the identities of the manufacturers or even the intended roles of the new aircraft.

U.S. military's latest annual report to Congress on Chinese military developments doesn’t mention potential sixth -generation crewed fighter developments.

Chinese officials have given little away about the country’s future tactical air combat program.

China is already heavily engaged in developing supporting technologies for future crewed combat aircraft.