The belly of the Chinese aircraft, seen in a handful of videos spreading on social media. Photo: Screenshot/via X
Footage showing a previously unseenChinese warplane scrambled aviation geeks Thursday, with some joking the clips were the perfect Christmas present.
Why it matters: The aircraft emerges amid fiery debates about the future of airpower — manned versus unmanned, mainly — in the U.S. and abroad.
Competition between Washington and Beijing is also boiling.
Zoom in: Videos and photos flooding social media show a large, delta-wing-style aircraft with a cockpit chased by a J-20S fighter.
Its design suggests stealth.
Russian state media quickly amplified the visuals, dubbing it the "White Emperor."
Aviation Week reported that the main landing gear has the "hallmark of heavy fighter-bombers, such as the Sukhoi Su-34."
Yes, but: Much remains unknown about the aircraft. Neither the Chinese government nor industry immediately took credit for the daytime flight.
What we're watching: The fate of the U.S. Air Force's futuristic fighter is in the hands of the incoming Trump administration, following Secretary Frank Kendall's punt.
"I don't want to make a decision that's going to be disrupted and reversed, potentially, by the new team," Kendall said Dec. 19 at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event.
"I don't want us to start industry down a specific course and then have to abruptly reverse that a few months from now."
