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China’s sixth-gen fighter jet leaves US Air Force officials with ‘choices to make’
Future of costly NGAD initiative under discussion at American defence conference after unofficial debut of aircraft prototypes in China
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Hayley Wongin Beijing
China’s newest fighter jet emerged as a talking point at an American defence conference this week, with US Air Force officials showing more urgency to get their own version of a sixth-generation stealth combat jet.
They made the call at the annual Air & Space Forces Association’s Warfare Symposium, held in Colorado from Monday to Wednesday, while discussing the future of a costly fighter jet programme – Next Generation Air Dominance – that was paused last summer.
“We have some choices to make as we observe what China has produced, and we can presume we know what that’s for – for air superiority,” US Air Combat Commander Kenneth Wilsbach said during a panel discussion on Tuesday, according to American news outlet Defense One.
“What are we going to do about it? I don’t believe that nothing is an option,” he said.
Wilsbach was referring to the unofficial debut of two Chinese sixth-generation aircraft prototypes in December that suggests the People’s Liberation Army could have an early advantage in the race with its long-range, stealthy J-36.
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