The Shenyang J-50,[1][2] J-XD,[3] or J-XDS,[4] is a temporary designation given by military analysts and defense media to a twinjet tailless lambda wing aircraft under development by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC). The aircraft was observed in flight testing in Shenyang, Liaoning, China in December 2024, which was tentatively named Shenyang J-XD or Shenyang J-50 by analysts, given the limited available information.[1][2][3]
| J-50 | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| National origin | China |
| Manufacturer | Shenyang Aircraft Corporation |
| Status | Flight testing |
| Number built | 1 confirmed |
| History | |
| First flight | Unknown, first publicly observed on 26 December 2024 |
History
editIn 2018, Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) reportedly developed prototypes for the next-generation aircraft.[5] Intelligence and rumors indicated the Chinese designs would use tailless flying wing or flying arrowhead configuration that can provide greater broadband stealth characteristics compared to the previous generation of fighters, new propulsion technologies, improved sensors allowing the aircraft to operate alongside unmanned teaming aircraft or unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), etc.[6]
In September 2022, United States Air Force (USAF) General Mark D. Kelly, head of the Air Combat Command (ACC) suggested China was on track with its six-generation fighter program, and he believed the Chinese design uses a 'system of systems' approach like the United States, which allows for "exponential" reductions in stealth signature and improvements in processing power and sensing.[5][7]
On 26 December 2024, a new Shenyang prototype aircraft, believed to be part of the Chinese sixth-generation fighter program, was spotted near Shenyang Aircraft Corporation's facilities. The reveal coincided with the spotting of the Chengdu J-36 from its sister company, Chengdu Aircraft Corporation.[8] Unconfirmed reports suggested the Shenyang fighter made its maiden flight on 20 December 2024. The Shenyang aircraft prototype seemed to be smaller than the Chengdu one. It was trailed by a Shenyang J-16 strike fighter as the chase plane.[9][10][11]
Subsequent new images, which appeared in January[4] and April 2025,[12] allowed observations to confirmed several details, including the aircraft's lambda wing configuration, swivelable wingtips as control surfaces, twin-engine with apparent thrust vectoring nozzles, while debunked a hypothesis suggesting the aircraft has folding empennage.[12][13]
Design
editThe Shenyang prototype fighter features a cranked arrow configuration with sharply swept lambda wings and articulating, swivelable wing tips acting as control surfaces.[4] The lambda wing design has a triangular trailing-edge extension that connects to the end of the engine bay, increasing aspect ratio and improving the aerodynamic efficiency compared to traditional trapezoidal wing.[9][12] Each wing also features a differential leading-edge extension (LRX) and multiple trailing edge control surfaces. The aircraft has a long nose radome with an electro-optical targeting system (EOTS) housing mounted underneath, which is followed by two v-shaped ventral intakes with diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI). At the tail are twin-engine bays with thrust vectoring nozzles.[3][9][14][15] The aircraft has a twin-wheeled nose landing gear and two single-wheeled aft landing gears in a tricycle configuration. Two ventral weapons bays are visible, with a centerline tunnel indented in between the two bays. Side weapon bays are also visible.[12][13] The medium size of the aircraft was speculated to be more suitable for operations on aircraft carriers.[16] The cockpit canopy was not visible from any available footage of the aircraft, leading to diverging theories on it being a crewed,[11][4] uncrewed,[8] or optionally crewed aircraft.[9][15]
See also
editAircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References
edit- ^ a b Honrada, Gabriel (2 January 2025). "China's J-36 stealth fighter another blow to US air superiority". Asia Times. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
- ^ a b Roblin, Sébastien (7 January 2025). "Two New Chinese Sixth-Gen Fighter Jets Have Emerged in a Direct Challenge to U.S. Air Superiority". Popular Mechanics.
- ^ a b c Kadidal, Akhil (30 December 2024). "Update: Two Chinese stealth aircraft programmes emerge unexpectedly". Janes.
- ^ a b c d Newdick, Thomas; Rogoway, Tyler (27 January 2025). "China's Mysterious Tailless Stealth Fighter Has Swiveling Wingtips". The War Zone. Recurrent Ventures. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
- ^ a b Newdick, Thomas (28 September 2022). "China Is Working On Its Own Sixth-Generation Fighter Program: Official". The War Zone. Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ Joe, Rick (11 June 2024). "China's 6th Generation and Upcoming Combat Aircraft: 2024 Update". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ Arthur, Gordon (24 June 2024). "When will China have a sixth-gen fighter jet?". Defense News.
- ^ a b Sweetman, Bill (27 December 2024). "Boxing clever? China's next-gen tailless combat aircraft analysed". Royal Aeronautical Society. Archived from the original on 29 December 2024. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d Newdick, Thomas (2024-12-26). "Yes, China Just Flew Another Tailless Next-Generation Stealth Combat Aircraft". The War Zone. Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
- ^ "China Revealed Two New Stealth Fighter Designs In One Momentous Day". Forbes.
- ^ a b D'Urso, Stefano (27 December 2024). "Second New Chinese Stealth Jet Emerges in the Same Day". The Aviationist.
- ^ a b c d D'Urso, Stefano (4 April 2025). "New Images Give Clearest Look at Shenyang's New Fighter". The Aviationist.
- ^ a b Rogoway, Tyler (4 April 2025). "China's 'J-50' Tailless Stealth Fighter Seen In New Imagery". The War Zone.
- ^ "New Chinese Advanced Combat Aircraft Emerge In Flight". Aviation Week. 26 December 2024. Archived from the original on 27 December 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ a b Kadidal, Akhil (8 April 2025). "New imagery reveals additional details of China's tailless aircraft". Janes.
...One of the photographs shows the lower port side view of the aircraft, revealing the aircraft's landing gear and showing its engine intakes and lambda-shaped wing in greater detail as well. Also visible is the aircraft's control surfaces, including its actuated, droop-down adaptive wingtips. This was the first known reappearance of the J-XD in the air since the type was spotted conducting a test flight over Shenyang city on 22 December 2024. A second photograph of the aircraft shows that, unusually, only the adaptive wingtip on the starboard wing was lowered as the J-XD flew at low altitude along a glide path towards a runway. This indicates that the wingtips can be lowered independent of each other. The wingtips are likely an additional control surface to improve manoeuvrability at low speeds, Janes assesses. The aircraft also appears to have lengthy differential leading-edge extensions (LEXs). The angle of the aircraft in the photographs, however, hinders Janes from assessing if the aircraft has upper surface spoilers or pitch, and yaw thrust vectoring controls.
- ^ Wangin, Amber; Zhuang, Sylvie (7 January 2025). "Why do China's sixth-gen stealth fighters have different designs?". South China Morning Post.