China’s New Stealth Fighter Jets Mark the End of NATO

On December 26, several videos surfaced on Chinese social media showing public flights of 2 new stealth fighter jets by the Chinese Air Force. Many believe these are China’s sixth-generation stealth fighters. If this is indeed the case, it would signify that Beijing has effectively “won the Third World War.”

The reasoning is straightforward: if the Chinese Air Force is truly a generation ahead of the U.S., it would mean the United States has lost air superiority. Without air superiority, the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) ability to dominate would crumble, causing NATO’s entire combat system to collapse.

What is a Sixth-Generation Fighter

Currently, there is no unified standard between the United States and Russia regarding what constitutes a “sixth-generation fighter jet.” So, why do so many in China believe this is a sixth-generation aircraft? The answer lies in historical trends: across all previous iterations of fighter jets, technological advancements—regardless of their specific focus—have always resulted in one critical advantage: “I can hit you, but you can’t hit me.”

For example, when the U.S. Air Force was the only one in the world operating stealth fighters like the F-22, China’s ground-based and airborne radars were unable to detect its position. This rendered radar-guided missiles ineffective, while the F-22 could easily attack Chinese aircraft.

Facing this daunting technological gap, the Chinese Air Force once proposed a desperate tactic: sacrificing over a dozen J-8 fighters to gain a single chance to attack an F-22. Even then, the harsh reality was that sacrificing the entirety of its aging fleet might still not be enough to eliminate all F-22s. With just over a hundred F-22 stealth fighters, the U.S. was able to dominate the skies unchallenged.

Now, footage from social media suggests that China’s new aircraft features three engines, potentially signalling the ‘F-22 Crisis’ of the USAF.

A “Space Battleship”

At this year’s Zhuhai Airshow, publicly available information hinted that the three-engine design might incorporate two entirely different propulsion systems—one for atmospheric flight and another for operations at altitudes up to 100 kilometres. This coincides with the Kármán line, the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. In other words, China now possesses what can be described as a “space battleship.”

This capability is not theoretical. On December 15, Chinese state media, Hunan TV, released footage of the MD-series hypersonic flight platform in action, which also features a three-engine configuration. It is capable of flying at Mach 7 at 100 kilometres in altitude while performing maneuvers with a maximum 6G overload. The combination of ultra-high speed, ultra-high altitude, and sufficient maneuverability gives China’s next-generation stealth fighter a decisive edge: “I can hit you, but you can’t hit me.”

Why Altitude and Speed Matter in Modern Aerial Combat

Modern aerial combat relies heavily on long-range air-to-air missiles. Missiles, constrained by their limited onboard fuel, can only actively propel themselves for a short initial segment of their flight. The remainder relies on inertia. Consequently, higher and faster aircraft impart greater initial kinetic energy to their missiles, enabling them to strike targets at maximum range. Conversely, a low-altitude target firing at a high-altitude target faces severe disadvantages. Atmospheric drag and gravity reduce the missile’s effective range by 30%–50%.

Take the U.S. AIM-120D missile, the longest-range air-to-air missile in the USAF arsenal. When launched from an altitude of 10 kilometres, it has a range of 180 kilometres. However, when launched from below 1 kilometre, its range drops to about 80 kilometres. The F-35, with a known operational ceiling of about 18 kilometres, would struggle to engage a Chinese aircraft flying at 80 kilometres. Not only would the AIM-120D have to overcome its own 161.5-kilogram weight, but even minor maneuvers by the Chinese aircraft would require the missile to make significant trajectory adjustments, further reducing its effectiveness.

In such scenarios, gravity and air resistance become the most effective shields for Chinese aircraft.

On the other hand, firing from high altitude at low-altitude targets grants significant range advantages to China’s air-to-air missiles. Equipped with new engines, China’s sixth-generation stealth fighter can engage U.S. aircraft from a safe distance, creating an “I can hit you, but you can’t hit me” advantage that ensures absolute air superiority.

What does air superiority mean in modern warfare?

The Gulf War serves as a prime example of the dominating power of air superiority. After 38 days of relentless air bombardment, coalition ground forces needed just 4 days to complete their mission. Coalition casualties numbered only 378, while Iraqi fatalities were estimated between 25,000 and 75,000.

This disparity was due to the dominance of the U.S. Air Force. With air superiority secured, attackers and cruise missiles can always provide constant close air support timely, while strategic bombers decimated roads, fortifications, factories, and troop concentrations. Absolute air superiority enabled the coalition to achieve victory at minimal cost.

However, NATO’s reliance on U.S. air superiority has created a critical vulnerability. Since the Gulf War, NATO’s ground and naval forces have been primarily tasked with identifying enemy positions for the Air Force or long-range firepower to eliminate.

Now, China’s new stealth fighter threatens to end U.S. air superiority, stripping NATO forces of their ability to operate effectively. Ukraine War underscores this vulnerability. Despite strong situational awareness capabilities, NATO-supplied armoured vehicles have struggled to gain an advantage over Russia without air support. In many cases, they have even struggled to defend themselves.

NATO’s navy is also set to suffer. This is because two configurations of China’s new stealth fighter are respectively designed for Air Force and Navy, similar to the J-20 and J-35 programs. If this is the case, NATO forces could soon lose air superiority on both land and sea. In such a scenario, NATO fleets might encounter a situation even more precarious than what Iraq faced against the U.S. Air Force—overwhelmed by swarms of Chinese drones.

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History may remember yesterday, the day the strategic balance shifted. Until the U.S. can field its own sixth-generation fighter to counter China, it will never dare to call the shot of World War III. And during the time it takes the U.S. to catch up, China’s researchers are unlikely to remain idle.

After all, if conflict in the Taiwan Strait becomes unavoidable, it will be a war that China is determined to win.