Everything is changing fast. If you’ve been watching the skies over the Pacific lately, you’ve probably seen the headlines about "loyal wingmen" or "drone swarms." But let’s be real: most of those reports miss the point. They focus on the sleek shapes and the cool-looking wings. They ignore the messy, complicated reality of what’s happening in the hangars of Chengdu and Shenyang. China is not just building drones. It is building a completely new way of fighting.
The China's CCA military combat aircraft program—or what we in the West call Collaborative Combat Aircraft—is basically the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) admitting that even a massive fleet of J-20 stealth fighters isn't enough. They need more eyes. They need more missiles. And honestly? They need more things they can afford to lose.
The J-20S: The Brain Behind the Brawn
You can't talk about China's CCA military combat aircraft without talking about the J-20S. This isn't just a two-seat version of their flagship stealth fighter. It is the first two-seat stealth fighter in the world. Why does that matter? Because flying a stealth jet into a high-threat zone is already hard. Doing that while also trying to manage four or five high-speed drones is almost impossible for one person.
The backseater in the J-20S is effectively a quarterback. While the pilot focuses on not crashing and shooting down the guy in front of them, the person in the back is staring at screens, directing the China's CCA military combat aircraft to scout ahead or jam enemy radar. It’s a division of labor that the U.S. hasn't fully committed to yet with the F-22 or F-35.
Expert analysts like Zhang Xuefeng have been pretty vocal about this. The idea is to maximize the "combat system" rather than just the individual plane. By the start of 2026, we’ve seen more evidence that these J-20S units are becoming fully operational. They aren't just for training. They are the command nodes for a robotic fleet.
The FH-97 and the Clone Wars
A lot of people look at the FH-97A and say, "Hey, that looks exactly like the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat."
They aren't wrong.
The FH-97A, developed by Aerospace Times Feihong Technology Corporation (CASC), looks like a carbon copy. It’s got the same nose, the same side intakes, and the same tail configuration. But looking the same doesn't mean it works the same.
The FH-97A is designed to be a "sensor and an ammunition depot." Think of it as a flying magazine. It can carry up to eight air-to-air missiles or even loitering munitions like the FH-901. If a J-20 runs out of missiles, it doesn't have to head home. It just taps into the "ammunition depot" flying a few miles to its left.
Why the "Type B" Changes the Game
During the 2025 Victory Day rehearsals, we saw something new. Analysts call it the "Type B" or the "Unmanned Air Superiority Fighter." This thing is huge. It’s roughly the size of a J-10 fighter.
Most drones are slow. This one isn't.
It has Diverterless Supersonic Intakes (DSI)—the same kind you see on the F-35 and J-20. This suggests it can keep up with manned fighters at supersonic speeds. It’s also tailless. Going tailless is a nightmare for flight controls, but it’s a dream for stealth. Without vertical fins, your radar signature drops significantly from the side and rear.
This isn't just a "loyal wingman." It's a high-performance assassin.
- Speed: Likely Mach 1.5+.
- Payload: Large internal bays for PL-15 or PL-21 missiles.
- Role: Taking the lead in "Day 1" operations to kick down the door of enemy air defenses.
The Logistics Nightmare Nobody Mentions
Everyone loves talking about AI and stealth. Nobody talks about the dirt.
Where do these things land? How do you fuel a hundred drones at a forward airbase?
China has been testing some weird solutions. We've seen images of land-mobile electromagnetic catapults on 10-wheeled trucks. It’s a 60-meter stroke designed to fling these CCAs into the air without a runway. That’s cool, but as Bill Sweetman pointed out recently, it doesn't solve the recovery problem. If you launch a drone from a truck in the middle of a jungle or a remote island, how do you get it back?
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If they are treated as "attritable"—meaning it's okay if they get shot down—then maybe you don't care. But these aren't cheap DJI drones. These are sophisticated jet-powered aircraft. Losing ten of them a day would bankrupt even a superpower's defense budget pretty quickly.
The Reality of 2026
The Western world is playing catch-up in terms of sheer variety. The U.S. Air Force is betting big on its own CCA program, with companies like Anduril and General Atomics leading the way. But China is throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. They have flying wings like the GJ-11 Sharp Sword for naval operations, the FH-97 line for air superiority, and the massive "Jiutian" mothership designed to carry 100 smaller drones.
It’s a shotgun approach.
Some of these designs might be duds. In fact, some analysts like Andreas Rupprecht suspect the original FH-97 mockup never even flew. But it doesn't matter if half of them fail if the other half work.
What You Should Watch For Next
If you want to know where this is going, stop looking at the airshows and start looking at the carrier decks. The Type 076 amphibious assault ship is being built with a catapult. That’s a massive hint. Small drones don't need catapults. Big, heavy, missile-laden China's CCA military combat aircraft do.
Here is how you can stay ahead of the curve on this topic:
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- Monitor the J-35: The naval version of China's newest stealth fighter is likely to be the primary user of CCAs at sea. If you see a J-35 flying with a "loyal wingman," the balance of power in the South China Sea has officially shifted.
- Follow the serial numbers: The "53-series" numbers spotted on recent drones link them to a specific UAV Brigade in Xinjiang. When those numbers show up in the Eastern Theater Command (near Taiwan), that’s an escalatory signal, not just a test.
- Look for the "Mothership" tests: Keep an eye on the Jiu Tian. If China successfully demonstrates launching swarms from a larger drone in mid-air, current missile defense systems will be effectively obsolete because they'll simply be overwhelmed by volume.
The era of the "lone wolf" fighter pilot is dead. The future is a swarm, and right now, China is building the hive.