Benjamin Jensen
On Dec. 26, 2024, Mao Zedong’s birthday, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) unveiled a new stealth aircraft. Reportedly designated J-36, the aircraft combines stealth capabilities with a large payload capacity, enabling both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions over extended ranges at supersonic speeds. These features make it a formidable challenge for modern air defense systems.
China’s sixth-generation fighter jet has sparked renewed concerns about Beijing’s advances in the ongoing arms race. It comes at a time when the United States has scaled back investments in next-generation air dominance under its latest defense budget. For U.S. military planners, this development significantly complicates operational scenarios, particularly in the Taiwan Strait, where China’s enhanced offensive counterair and interdiction capabilities would necessitate a rapid deployment of additional intelligence and defensive assets. Such a capability shift underscores the need for the United States to reassess its air strategy in the Indo-Pacific.
The jet’s unveiling marks a significant milestone in the evolving great-power contest between Washington and Beijing. This new Cold War is increasingly defined by technology competition. The CCP isn’t just seeking to dominate core commercial technologies like electric vehicles and artificial intelligence. It wants a deeper military-civil fusion that supports Beijing’s ability to replicate a Cold War-era offset strategy, in which technological advantages tip the military balance.
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