Beijing’s newly revealed experimental aircraft sends a strong signal to competitors, Dmitry Stefanovich has said
The images of China’s brand new warplanes, which appeared online this week, is a bold “invitation” to an arms race for a next-generation fighter, Dmitry Stefanovich, a military researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has told RT.
The videos and photos posted to social media on December 26 show two previously unseen tailles jets – a larger diamond-shaped aircraft, and a smaller plane with an arrow-wing-shaped airframe. While Beijing stays silent on the matter, the display sparked discussion in international media, with some observers suggesting the aircraft could be the first sixth-generation fighter planes.
“So far, we have only seen two variants of experimental aircraft,” Stefanovich said. “Presumably, one of them can be tailored for strike missions that involve attacks on ground and, perhaps, naval targets, while another one is tasked with dominating the skies and controlling the airspace.”
The footage “demonstrates the general state of the development” of Chinese aircraft rather than sixth-generation planes specifically, the expert argued, noting that ‘sixth generation’ is a “loosely applied term.” Therefore, it is too early to draw definitive conclusions about the capabilities of the new planes, he said.
Beijing will have to compete with American next-generation fighter programs, Stefanovich said. “While there are no game-changers on the horizon, China is explicitly inviting to participate in an arms race, at least in terms of quality,” he said.
“We should not forget, however, that the US is the only country with an advanced-stage program for a new strategic bomber – the B-21 – which can be adapted for some of what we would call sixth-generation capabilities. The Chinese and Russian planes of comparable type have not taken off the ground yet,” Stefanovich said.
