China’s building a sixth-generation “integrated air-space fighter” that will supposedly outstrip anything the Americans and their allies have in their arsenals. At least that’s what the mock-up of China’s “White Emperor,” or, Baidi, plane.

This shocking development is like a shot of adrenaline in the rear end of the Pentagon’s increasingly bloated budget. That’s because America’s sixth-generation warplane program, the “Next-Generation Air Dominance” (NGAD) platform, is facing serious budget cuts. By pointing to the claims that China is about to outpace the Americans with their supposed sixth-generation warplane, the Pentagon will now be able to clamor up to Capitol Hill and beg for an increase in funding lest they suddenly fall behind China in this key area.

But there’s a simple problem with all these claims. China has yet to prove they’ve got a working prototype of their sixth-generation plane. What was revealed was a futuristic-looking mock-up at the Zhuhai Air Show in Guangdong, China last week. We know only what the Chinese government has leaked out to the press, which means that the Chinese sixth-generation bird could be more advanced than what they’ve shown or, more probably, less advanced.

That’s not because China is utterly incapable of building dynamic and advanced........

© The National Interest