J-50

The Shenyang J-50, also referred to as the J-XD or J-XDS, is a provisional designation given by analysts and defense media to a tailless twinjet combat aircraft under development by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. The prototype was first observed near Shenyang's facilities on 26 December 2024, trailed by a J-16 chase aircraft, on the same day the larger Chengdu J-36 broke cover; unconfirmed reports suggested the maiden flight had occurred on 20 December 2024. Unlike the J-36, which the People's Liberation Army finally showed in an official video in June 2026, the Shenyang aircraft has never been acknowledged by China in any form.

Design

Imagery through 2025 progressively confirmed the design: sharply swept lambda wings with articulating, swivelable wingtips acting as control surfaces, twin engines with serrated thrust-vectoring nozzles, V-shaped ventral diverterless supersonic inlets, a chin-mounted electro-optical targeting system, and two ventral weapons bays. Photos from April 2025 settled earlier debate by confirming a crewed cockpit, likely single-seat. The aircraft's medium size has led analysts to speculate it may be intended partly for carrier operations aboard China's catapult-equipped carriers, though this remains unconfirmed.

No credible dimensions, weights or performance figures have been published. The only published measurement comes from a September 2025 satellite image, which suggested a wingspan of roughly 15 m and a length slightly shorter than the J-36's - an estimate its authors flagged as unusually uncertain, the shadow and image resolution making the aircraft hard to bound.

Flight testing

A possible second prototype was photographed taxiing at Shenyang in September 2025, and satellite imagery found the aircraft deployed alongside the J-36 at a secretive test airfield near Lop Nur in late 2025, indicating parallel state-backed development of both programs. Flight activity resumed in March 2026 with fresh test imagery from sites linked to Shenyang, showing the campaign continuing - still without official Chinese acknowledgment, and at a visibly slower public tempo than the J-36's.