J-36

The Chengdu J-36 is the designation applied by analysts to a large tailless combat aircraft developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation under China's sixth-generation program. A prototype carrying the serial 36011 was first observed in flight over Chengdu on 26 December 2024, escorted by a J-20S chase aircraft; Beijing has never officially named the type, though Chinese state media later referred to it as the "ginkgo leaf jet" and PLAAF deputy commander Wang Wei has described it as the PLAAF's interpretation of a sixth-generation aircraft.

Design

The aircraft is a trijet flying wing with a diamond-like double-delta planform, no vertical tails, two underwing intakes plus a dorsal diverterless supersonic inlet, and a side-by-side two-seat cockpit. Three ventral weapons bays are visible, the main bay assessed at roughly 7.6 m long and apparently sized for PL-17 very-long-range air-to-air missiles or large air-to-surface munitions. Analysts have debated its role - heavy fighter, interceptor, regional bomber, or a supercruising "airborne cruiser" acting as a command hub for teamed unmanned aircraft.

Flight testing intensified through 2025: a second public flight in March, close-up imagery from April onward, and a second prototype from October 2025 featuring two-dimensional thrust-vectoring exhausts and revised intakes and landing gear. Satellite imagery placed the J-36 alongside the Shenyang J-50 at a secretive test airfield near Lop Nur in late 2025, and a third prototype flew on 25 December 2025, with testing continuing into 2026. No published dimensions or performance figures exist; analyst estimates diverge widely.