New Photos of Supposed Chinese 6th Gen “J-50” Fighter

[Pyroclastic]

Those very obvious F-22 exhaust nozzles really stand out.

​​​​​…and that extremely right-angled inlet is highly suspect.

[Blackfingers]

What engines are they using?

[Zaphod58]

What engines are they using?

Either WS-15 or WS-19 are the most likely candidates.

[Pyroclastic]

Either WS-15 or WS-19 are the most likely candidates.

Any opinions on what we’re seeing in these photos, Zaph?  I have to admit that even after all of the verified espionage the Chinese have committed, I was still pretty shocked to see such a blatant copy of the Raptor’s thrust vectoring exhaust nozzles on this bird.  And the fuselage forward of the inlets looks a whole lot like the YF-23… What’s the current intel on the Chinese aerospace industry actually making any advances where engines are concerned?

[Zaphod58]

Any opinions on what we’re seeing in these photos, Zaph?  I have to admit that even after all of the verified espionage the Chinese have committed, I was still pretty shocked to see such a blatant copy of the Raptor’s thrust vectoring exhaust nozzles on this bird.  And the fuselage forward of the inlets looks a whole lot like the YF-23… What’s the current intel on the Chinese aerospace industry actually making any advances where engines are concerned?

Their engines are improving. They're up to about late 90s Western levels. They've made some serious leaps in smaller tech levels, like heat resistant blades, and an oscillating detonation engine for hypersonics. They have a long way to go still on reliability, and in service times to catch up to the West, but they've made very big strides in the last 10-20 years. 

We're looking at a potential true fifth gen airframe here. This would be the first true fifth gen outside of US production. The J-20 and Su-57 are both reduced RCS platforms, but aren't true fifth gen. Although the J-20 comes close.  This is probably close to the F-117 in terms of RCS, although probably not quite that good yet.

[Blackfingers]

Id still say that Chinese engines are better at reliability than Russian ones.Sustained power at high speed and spares availability is always the telling factor.Least its a twin engine.

[grey580]

Article here. 

China’s New J-50 6th-Generation Fighter Has A Message for the U.S. Military

Discusses what is seen on the plane along with some more photos.

[Zaphod58]

Article here. 

China’s New J-50 6th-Generation Fighter Has A Message for the U.S. Military

Discusses what is seen on the plane along with some more photos.


[Image: https://i.imgur.com/qeqmwZF.jpeg]


[Video: https://youtu.be/aorYGICn_TA]

I swear to God I’m so sick of those idiot articles from National Interest. Their writers are morons, and apparently all their doing is recycling the article and changing the weapons system involved.

[Signal Witch]

Everybody’s talking like these new tailless jets are frontline birds about to fill PLAAF squadrons. To me they look a lot more like the U.S. X-plane era of the late 90's. Bird of Prey never went operational but shaped stealth design that lived on. The X-36 showed you could keep a tailless unstable jet under control with digital flight laws. And the X-32 vs X-35 fight proved only one prototype makes it out alive.
 
China flying two or three very different tailless shapes at once feels like the same playbook. Limited prototypes, no production footprint, and clear rivalry between Shenyang and Chengdu. They’re probably testing geometry, control, and stealth before locking down a path.
 
That doesn’t mean they’re throwaways. Beijing wants these images out there. They already have AESAs, EOTS under the chin, diverterless inlets, and thrust-vectoring engines. One of these could be a real pre-production article.
 
The way I see it: we’re watching China’s Bird of Prey moment in real time. At least one design will fade into obscurity. Another might stick and grow into a true NGAD rival. 

So when I see folks talking like China already has squadrons of sixth-gen ghosts prowling the skies, I have to laugh. What we’re really looking at are a couple of testbeds and a lot of grainy photos. The rest is just click-bait dressed up as analysis.

[Sirius]

photos looks fake