--- title: "Tailless Fighter-Like Airframe Appears At Chinese Jet Manufacturer Shenyang’s Main Plant" description: "China's aviation industry closed out 2024 with [the stunning debut of two]() previously unseen [stealthy combat jets](). The country's two preeminent fighter manufacturers, the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation and the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, are understood to each be responsible for one…" date: "2025-01-07" modified: "2025-01-07" authors: - name: "Joseph Trevithick" job_title: "Deputy Editor" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/joseph-trevithick" url: "https://www.twz.com/air/tailless-fighter-like-airframe-appears-at-chinese-jet-manufacturer-shenyangs-main-plant" categories: - "Air" - "Around The Globe" - "China" - "Drones" - "Fighters" - "Indo-Pacific" - "News & Features" - "Satellite Imagery" - "Stealth" - "UCAVs" - "Unmanned" --- # Tailless Fighter-Like Airframe Appears At Chinese Jet Manufacturer Shenyang’s Main Plant ![A recent satellite image shows what looks to be yet another fighter-esque airframe or test article at Shenyang's main plant in the city of the same name in China.]() *PHOTO © 2024 PLANET LABS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION* China's aviation industry closed out 2024 with [the stunning debut of two]() previously unseen [stealthy combat jets](). The country's two preeminent fighter manufacturers, the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation and the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, are understood to each be responsible for one of them. Now, a recent satellite image shows what looks to be yet another next-generation fighter-like airframe or mockup at Shenyang's main plant in the city of the same name. Planet Labs snapped the satellite image in question on Jan. 1. It shows the object, which is roughly 50 feet (or 15 meters) long and has a slightly wider wingspan, on a small ramp just off the main taxiway at the northern end of the Shenyang plant co-located airfield. It has a modified diamond-like delta platform with a broad central fuselage, which appears to feature two top-mounted engine nacelles. No tail is visible in the image. A slender, pointed nose emanates from the main fuselage area. The exhausts appear to have a wedge-like contour to their trailing edge. No landing gear is visible in the shadow, but that does not mean it isn't there based on the resolution of the image and the angle of the light. ![]() **PHOTO © 2024 PLANET LABS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION** The object has a yellow or tan coloring, and China does use [a distinctive yellow primer]() for prototype military aircraft. More recent imagery available from Planet does not provide sufficient detail to offer any more insights into the object or show whether or not it has moved since then. The intriguing object seen at Shenyang on Jan. 1 could be another concept for a next-generation manned tactical combat jet, one in the medium weight class compared to the heavier designs we have seen so recently, or an uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV). Crewed or uncrewed, it could also be a demonstrator, just a mockup or something else completely. It could also be used as a decoy to throw off foreign intelligence. We really can't tell from what is available to us now. Regardless, the object has a distinctly different overall shape than [the Flanker variants]() and [derivatives]() that constitute the bulk of Shenyang's [current production output]() or [the members]() of its [stealthy FC-31/J-35 family](). It is also unlike the advanced [tailless design attributed to the company]() that emerged last month. ![]() *A composite image showing different views of the advanced combat jet attributed to Shenyang that broke cover in December. *Chinese Internet via X** There are some similarities, but also clear differences between what has now been seen at Shenyang and another airframe/test article/mockup [that appeared in satellite imagery]() of the airfield adjacent to Chengdu's main plant back in 2021. It also recalls what looked to be [mockups or even full-scale decoys]() that emerged at China's remote Lintao Air Base the following year, though those had their own distinct shape, including forward canards and extremely slender noses. ![]() *Satellite images of Chengdu taken in 2021 showing an airframe/test article that is similar, but distinctly different from the one that has now been seen at Shenyang. *PHOTO © 2021 PLANET LABS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION** ![]() *The still unidentified "shapes" seen at Lintao Air Base in 2022. *PHOTO © 2022 PLANET LABS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION** There are also some very broad similarities in certain respects between what has emerged at Shenyang and concept art of Lockheed Martin's [X-44 MANTA]() (Multi-Axis No-Tail Aircraft) from the late 1990s and early 2000s. The MANTA design was derived from [the F-22 Raptor]() stealth fighter and, at least to our knowledge, never came to be. ![]() *Artists conceptions of the X-44 MANTA. *Lockheed Martin/NASA** Separate satellite imagery has also now emerged showing what looks to be a large black-colored mockup on the "deck" of China's full-size land-based aircraft carrier test facility in Wuhan. Mockups of a Shenyang J-15 carrier-based Flanker variant and a J-35 are also visible. It isn't clear what this shape is supposed to represent, but we have seen mockups [of upcoming carrier-based aircraft]() show up [at this unique facility]() in the past. https://twitter.com/RupprechtDeino/status/1876573943391547830 As is clear, [curious aerospace-related objects]() have [appeared at Chinese facilities in the past](), even before the emergence of the two new stealth combat jet designs last month. Those aircraft already reflected years now of [steadily more advanced crewed]() and [uncrewed military aviation developments]() in China, as well as [a broader modernization push]() across the People's Liberation Army (PLA) [as a whole](). It would make good sense that Shenyang and Chengdu, as well as other Chinese state-run aircraft companies, are working on other advanced designs, including in the classified realm, or have even worked on and moved on from concepts that still have yet to be officially disclosed, if they ever are. Following the December reveals, eyes are still very much on China to see if anything else emerges. So, while the exact nature of what we've now seen in the satellite image of Shenyang remains unclear, its appearance there now is certainly of note. *Contact the author: joe@twz.com* ## Author Joseph is *TWZ’s* Deputy Editor, helping to oversee the site’s highly experienced and dedicated team, while also writing informative and impactful defense and national security content. He lives right in the thick of it in the Washington, D.C. area. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Bluesky]()