The massive military parade in Beijing yesterday has provided us with a much closer look at some of the country’s new air combat drone initiatives, the gradual emergence of which, in the run-up to the event, prompted much discussion. Of these various drone designs, one, in particular, stands out. This is a low-observable tailless design that is also very large, broadly equivalent in size to China’s J-10 medium-weight fighter. Overall, its design is indicative of high performance, pointing firmly to a true uncrewed stealth fighter, while its appearance suggests that it may well already be flyable — or is otherwise a very authentic mock-up.
While the designation of the new drone remains unknown, there have been claims that it is provisionally named Unmanned Air Superiority Fighter. Meanwhile, for the sake of clarity, China-watchers have taken to referring to this design as the Type B drone.
The drone in question was shown among other uncrewed designs on the back of a flatbed truck during the September 3 parade marking the 80th anniversary of China’s victory over Japan in World War II. Seen now in full, and uncovered, the drone is significantly bigger than the other previously unknown designs that had been seen ahead of the parade, in satellite imagery and covered with tarpaulins during rehearsals.
Collectively, the various new drone designs — at least five in total — were widely considered to be something akin to Chinese equivalents of the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). The Type B, however, has all the hallmarks of a higher-performance fighter-like uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV), of a kind that the U.S. Air Force is notably not developing — at least, in the unclassified realm.
The new UCAV-like Type B drone is tailless with a modified delta wing. The wing is broadly diamond-shaped, with cropped tips. There are two large control surfaces evident on each wing’s trailing edge. The nose has a very distinct chine that extends back to the side-mounted engine intakes before merging with the wing leading edge. The side intakes are in contrast to those found on at least some of the other newly emerged Chinese drone designs, which are mounted on top of the fuselage. These forward-raked, diverterless supersonic intakes (DSI) have much in common with those found on new-generation crewed fighter designs, outright pointing to supersonic performance. The intakes feed a single engine, with the variable-geometry nozzle (presumably for an afterburning engine) projecting beyond the wing trailing edge. The nozzle is serrated, including both the outer sleeve and actual nozzle, like on the F-35 and new Chinese fighter designs. Pointed extensions of the trailing edge, again F-35-style, are found on either side of the engine nozzle (seen below).
Overall, the Type B is very likely supersonic capable, but would also possess significant range for a high-performance aircraft, thanks to a combination of sleek tailless design and no requirement to accommodate a pilot and all crew-related systems.
Besides performance, the other major driver is low observability. As for the exposed, round engine nozzle, which would adversely affect this, at least from the rear aspect, this is a known practice for stealth fighter designs, the result of a tradeoff between performance, complexity, weight, affordability, and low observability. The serrations on the nozzle help with the radar signature in certain radar bands. It could also be the case that this is an early iteration, and a stealthier, two-dimensional engine nozzle, possibly with thrust vectoring, will appear on the Type B in due course. This would parallel the development of Russia’s S-70 Okhotnik UCAV, and the Chinese GJ-11 Sharp Sword also underwent a redesign that left it with enhanced low-observable features.
To preserve its low observability, there are signs that the Type B drone has extensive internal capacity for weapons. Underside views of the drone suggest large weapons bays below its fuselage.
Interrupting what is otherwise an overall smooth profile, the Type B drone also has a prominent chin-mounted electro-optical sensor, likely analogous to the F-35’s Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS). Similar kinds of fairings also appear on the Chinese J-20 and J-35 stealth jets and further point to this drone being intended for fighter-style missions.
Alongside this drone, China displayed another, broadly similar but slightly smaller UCAV design, now referred to as the Type A. Also tailless, this one differs in having a lambda-type wing and caret-style engine intakes. It lacks the undernose EOTS fairing, but appears to have a similar kind of single-turbofan powerplant. Otherwise, it looks more slender than the Type B, with a much smaller nose profile.
At this point, it’s worth noting that we don’t know for sure what the nature of these two new drones in the parade is, but they appear to be real aircraft, potentially even flight-capable. If they are mock-ups, they include a remarkable level of detail, down to an open access panel seen aft of the main landing gear on the Type A. Traditionally, mock-ups have been regularly shown at many major Chinese military parades in the past.
As it is, there is very little to indicate the status of the designs, in terms of where they are in their development cycle or whether they are even intended for operational service or are (currently) intended to serve as prototypes or demonstrators. Both the Type A and B drones shown in the parade had serial numbers applied that refer to an actual operational unit of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). However, that’s not to say that one or both are currently operational, and there is no evidence, publicly available, of these drones having been fielded in any meaningful way.
At the same time, it’s certainly the case that many previous designs that have appeared as parade mock-ups, including drones, have matured into very real capabilities. Of these, the GJ-11 is among the best-known examples and had been flying for years in a less-refined form prior to its parade debut.
Like the GJ-11, the new Type B drone appears to be intended for a UCAV role, although very likely it is also intended to have collaborative capabilities.
However, while other newly emerged Chinese drone designs more closely approximate our understanding of CCAs or CCA-type platforms, the Type B’s size and apparent complexity do indeed point more to its being a fighter-like UCAV. CCA concepts are typically more focused on some form of affordability for ‘combat mass’ — clearly not a driver for the Type A and B. For CCAs, such decisions come at the expense of payload, stealthiness, range, and especially performance. While CCAs are generally more intended for cooperative employment, true UCAVs are understood to be more capable of independent operation, or at least be designed with an eye toward that in the future.
UCAVs are clearly an area in which China is also devoting extensive resources, with a steady flow of drones in this class having been noted under flight test, in satellite imagery, and in the form of scale models and mock-ups. Most prominent among these is perhaps the aforementioned GJ-11, a stealthy flying-wing UCAV, development of which has continued, refining it in the process, with a growing eye toward future shipboard operations.
By now, it’s fairly clear that the GJ-11 is designed primarily for strike missions, with the munitions carried in a pair of internal bays, as well as performing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) tasks. Sharp Swords have also been depicted launching decoys and carrying out what appear to be electronic warfare attacks.
The GJ-11 is just one of a number of flying-wing designs that Chinese companies have been working on publicly in recent years.
While also stealthy, the new drone’s apparent high-performance design focus could well point to it being envisioned for more fighter-like missions, including direct air combat with other platforms. As well as fighter-like roles, the Type B would also be able to carry out more ‘traditional’ UCAV missions, such as strike and ISR. Once again, the degree to which it might operate collaboratively in support of crewed fighters remains unclear, but this is certainly an area of study in China right now, including teaming UCAVs with crewed J-20 stealth fighters. We have previously explored how the two-seat version of the J-20 that first emerged in 2021 could be especially well-suited to the airborne drone controller role.
via X
Again, it’s unclear if the overall concept of the new Chinese fighter-like drone is based on a ‘loyal wingman’-type drone companion to crewed fighters, or if the drone will be controlled from a ground station, or even if it will be expected to shoot down hostile aircraft with some degree of autonomy. However, while the latter point is one that the U.S. Air Force, in particular, is increasingly grappling with, China appears to have far fewer qualms about autonomous vehicles making such life-and-death decisions.
Until now, only a few fighter-type air combat drone projects have resulted in hardware, with a prominent example being Turkey’s Bayraktar Kizilelma drone. This is claimed to be supersonic (at least in later versions), have a degree of reduced-observable characteristics, and be tailored for the kinds of air combat missions typically undertaken by crewed fighter jets.
Powered by a single turbofan, the Kizilelma has a canard-delta configuration, of the kind seen on some other reduced-observable combat aircraft designs, and has canted vertical stabilizers. Overall, its design is weighted more toward high performance than low observability, with the two Chinese UCAV-type drones being notably stealthier in this regard.
Whatever the intended role of China’s new fighter-like drones, their appearance once again highlights an apparent fast-growing gap between developments in this area in China and the United States.
As far as is known, the U.S. military is not actively developing UCAVs in this class, and its earlier efforts on stealthy flying-wing combat drones were effectively shelved, in the public domain, at least. The startling lack of U.S. Air Force activity in this area is something you can read more about in this past TWZ feature.
Instead, for the U.S. military, next-generation air combat drone activity is currently focused on lower-cost designs intended to work closely with crewed combat jets, at least initially, as part of their respective Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programs. There is, meanwhile, nothing that we know about that’s comparable to China’s low-observable (stealthy) flying-wing designs, which offer much greater range and payload capacities, as well as much-enhanced survivability.
There may also be other Chinese fighter-like UCAVs in the works, too. Earlier this year, imagery appeared that indicated China is test-flying another tailless stealthy combat jet, although it still isn’t clear if this is a crewed design or another new advanced drone. You can read our analysis of this aircraft here.
Clearly, we still have much to find out about the big new Type B drone, not least what it might officially be called. Potentially, it may not be intended for operational service but instead is meant to serve as a demonstrator or a proof-of-concept. It may even be a rival to Type A seen adjacent to it in the parade, suggesting China is avoiding putting all its fighter UCAV eggs in one basket.
Even that possibility, however, would serve to highlight the stark contrast in UCAV development between China and the United States, an apparent growing trend that TWZ has been discussing for years.
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