China’s Sixth Generation Heavyweight Fighter Completes Fourth Flight: F-47 Remains Behind

Large quantities of footage from multiple Chinese sources have confirmed intensified flight testing of one of the country’s two sixth generation fighter aircraft currently under development, namely the larger of the two aircraft dubbed the ‘J-36.’ The aircraft was seen on March 26 performing its fourth known test flight within three months, and its second in just two days, with new footage providing clearer views of the aircraft’s entirely unique three engine tailless design. The sixth generation fighter is expected to be the largest in the world, allowing for carriage of a significantly larger radar and greater weapons payload than existing fighters, as well as a higher endurance. Its combat radius is speculated to exceed 3500 kilometres using internal fuel, compared to 2000 kilometres for the J-20 fifth generation fighter, and approximately 1000 kilometres for the American F-22 and F-35 fighters. The new Chinese aircraft uses a unique a trijet tailless flying wing aircraft with a blended double delta wing configuration.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/03/28/article_67e647e934d300_91238207.png" title="China`s Sixth Generation Fighter Dumps Fuel During Test Flight">The new fighter’s high rate of testing follows considerable successes by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation in developing its immediate predecessor, the J-20, in under half the time of competing American and Russian fifth generation fighters. The J-20 progressed from its first demonstrator flight in January 2011, to service entry, in just six years – compared to 15 years for the F-22 and F-35. Similarly rapid progress developing the new fighter would allow China to field it half a decade or more before any other country can deploy a similar aircraft. This was <a href="https://theaviationgeekclub.com/heres-why-why-china-is-poised-to-beat-the-us-to-field-a-sixth-generation-fighter-first/" target="_blank">predicted</a> by&nbsp;leading expert on Chinese next generation fighter programs and author of the book&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Chinas-Stealth-Fighter-Hardback/p/50764" target="_blank" >China's Stealth Fighter: The J-20 'Mighty Dragon' and the Growing Challenge to Western Air Dominance</a>,&nbsp;Abraham Abrams, who observed:&nbsp;&nbsp;“An assessment of the performances of the Chinese and American defence sectors in recent decades indicates that it is still highly likely that China will field a sixth generation fighter significantly earlier than the United States can… A comparison of the development timeline of China’s J-20 fifth generation fighter with its American rivals the&nbsp;<a href="https://theaviationgeekclub.com/heres-why-the-j-20-combat-radius-doubles-that-of-f-22-f-35-why-china-does-not-export-it-why-the-mighty-dragon-does-not-future-an-internal-gun-q-a-with-renowned-j-20-expert-abraham-ab/" >F-22 and F-35 provides</a>&nbsp;notable indicators of this.”&nbsp;On March 21 it was <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/boeing-selected-develop-f47-sixth-generation-fighter-turning-point" target="_blank">confirmed</a> that the U.S. Air Force had selected Boeing to develop a competing sixth generation fighter for the service, although the precedents set by the F-22 and F-35 programs for years long delays raise a significant possibility that the program will remain far behind. After revealing demonstrator airframes of two sixth generation fighters in flight in December 2024, China remains the only country in the world to have done so, and is expected to continue to widen its lead over the United States, while Russia, which was once the industry leader, tails increasingly far behind the two leading powers.&nbsp;