The race to dominate the future of aerial warfare between China and the United States has been speeding up in recent months as both unveiled plans for sixth-generation fighters.
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Starting on the highly symbolic date of December 26, Mao Zedong’s birthday, a number of photos and videos that appear to show prototypes of a new Chinese warplane undergoing tests have been circulating online.
One feature that caught attention was the use of three engines, prompting speculation about whether this was an inherent design feature or a sign that the country had not yet been able to develop sufficiently advanced technology to power the fighters.
Other elements raised broader questions about what role the fighters could play in future wars and how China viewed the evolution of aerial warfare in an age of drones and artificial intelligence.
The release of these images and videos may also be an effort to show it is making rapid progress in developing next-generation technology at a time when the United States and others are developing their own fighter programmes.
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Last month, US President Donald Trump ended speculation that the next-generation US F-47 fighter programme would be scrapped on cost grounds by awarding Boeing the contract to make the planes. The US is also expected to award a contract to develop the US Navy’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme within months.
Meanwhile other nations have joint programmes to develop a sixth-generation fighter, including Britain, Japan and Italy’s Global Combat Air Programme, and France, Germany and Spain’s Future Combat Air System.