Last month, the People's Republic of China appeared to have leapfrogged the United States in military aviation technology, as a previously undisclosed aircraft recently made its maiden flight. The aircraft in question has been described as a "next-generation" or "sixth-generation" fighter.

China's first 6th gen fighter appears to have taken to the skies for the first time seemingly beating Western fighter jets for the first flight.

On December 26, 2024, in broad daylight, China took to the skies with the test flights of two presumed sixth-generation delta-wing fighter jets. The more documented of the two, the Chengdu delta-wing craft,

The smaller of the advanced jets is expected to be carrier-based while the larger plane could become a fighter-bomber, observers say.