New images of what are suspected of being China's sixth-generation aircraft have surprised many with how rapidly China's military is modernizing. TaiwanPlus takes a closer look.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Can you tell me what your immediate reaction is to these images of what many people are
00:05calling China's first sixth-generation fighter?
00:08I think we have to be cautious until we know more about the design specifics, but the decision
00:15itself to reveal this in daylight, in what looks like a coordinated way with yet another
00:25potential 6G aircraft design from China, it shows that China wants to get the message
00:35out that it's got a new capability in the air and is not afraid of being transparent
00:41in that limited sense.
00:44But the race is on.
00:46I think it's a clear reminder that the United States and its allies don't have a cushion
00:54they can sit on in terms of the technological lead that they have in high-performance aircraft.
01:00Can you tell me what makes something a sixth-generation fighter?
01:03What, for example, is the difference between a fifth and a sixth-generation fighter?
01:07I think the key variable from the look of this design is stealth.
01:15Stealth is specific to fifth-generation designs onward.
01:24That said, it does also, with the swept wing design, obviously suggest that this is capable
01:31of supersonic flight.
01:34That goes right back to the 4G generation of aircraft, right back to the 1950s.
01:42We shouldn't forget that although China has made leaps and bounds in aviation technology
01:49and the PLA more generally, it is still stuck in the bomber mode with a very early 1950s
01:58airframe design, which they've innovated a great deal on.
02:02But the linkage is clear.
02:04If China is making particular advances in manned aviation and uncrewed platforms to
02:12accompany that, then the airspace is more contested.
02:15It's more difficult for the U.S. and its partners to operate throughout the first island chain,
02:20which is the main zone of contention with China, and that, of course, includes Taiwan
02:24for your audience.