What do we know about China's new '6th generation' fighters?

Last week, China revealed not one, but two, new stealth aircraft to the world through what appeared to be a carefully staged series of test flights over populated areas that were sure to produce a slew of images and videos that would find their way onto the handful of social media platforms that currently dominate global discourse.

Let's talk about what these aircraft mean for China's future airpower and American Defense.

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Citations:

[ybeuhie]

After this night, it seemed as if all Western media had become sixth-generation aircraft researchers and were very familiar with them. One female anchor even said: They don’t look

[MichaelJordan-tj]

It is so funny that I see many stupid and ignorant comments by people whose countries can't even produce a 4th gen fighter...and in a matter of fact, their comments do no harm but show off their own stupidity...

[huangzongming]

There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.

[unknownpressure]

As a Chinese I can secretly tell you:

It can fly!!

[kdiigx]

You’re the guy I was waiting to hear from about this. Thanks!

[rashadarbab]

This might be a MiG25 moment in the pentagon. Can't wait to see what the 6th gen equivalent of the F15 will be able to do.

[Buran]

The only thing I'm sure is that the 6th gen of Chinese fighters won't cost 300m $ each one...

[jmass]

Finally, I’ve been waiting for you to post something about this!

[amunra]

Denial, anger, bargain, depression, acceptance.

[CSsAcnt]

The most crazy thing is that they publicly showed them off with full confidence

[VinayKumar-dbqz]

The art of war- Sun Tzu, It's the art of fighting without fighting, just keep your enemies guessing.

[Dgerous]

The “made in China” jokes are kind of funny coming from Americans considering Boeings current track record and how common it is to see US helicopters falling out of the sky.

[fredflint]

You bring up some good points. Fielding a 6th generation fighter is a major investment. It's going to be interesting to see who will be able to produce enough of these aircraft to make a difference.

[MrWuwho]

The biggest threat is not even the aircrafts themselves, it is the wishful underestimation of your enemy capabilities. From EV, smartphone, to hypersonic missiles to this. How many wake up calls are needed to wake people up and put more serious effort to counter it. We need to not just put more money but more thoughts in how to do R&D faster and cost effectively.

[jesse]

USA: although we failed to develop 6th gen fighter, we successfully developed lotS of 6th gen YouTube bots in comment section

[jeremyholland]

I can’t tell you enough how much I was waiting for this video! I’m happy you took your time and did an awesome deep dive instead of one of the shorts!

[ArkoProvoMukherjee]

Thanks for covering this as well as the awesome job you do covering military tech! While I agree that there is no reason to panic right now, these threats need to be seen from a long term perspective. I hope that these recent developments help push NGAD / F/A-XX as well as the stealth refuel / tanker programs through Congress.

[LP]

When I was born in China back in the 80s, it was as poor as some African countries I am just glad within such short time, it has become as advanced as it did. People can talk about spying all day but one that understands manufacturing know you can't just "copy" something as sophisticated as jets. It takes a lot of efforts from many engineers to create such things. Another thing to point out is that the Chengdu Aircraft has the number 36011 on it that means it is the 11th aircraft made. I hate to burst bubbles but these are not some early prototypes, that is not how Chinese do things. If they are showing you it means its already in production.

[stevehaney]

I've been anxiously awaiting this video since the news dropped. You didn't disappoint. Rational analysis of the situation.

[christer]

Show strength when you weak, show weakness when you strong - Sun Tzu Art of War