US says F-47 will be first sixth-gen jet. China’s J-36 and J-50 are already flying

Washington is “not too far away” from a production line for its F-47 sixth-generation fighter, a senior US Air Force official has said, as China presses ahead with flight-testing two different next-generation combat aircraft of its own.

During a virtual event hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies on Monday, Brigadier General Timothy Helfrich, the service’s portfolio acquisition executive for fighters and advanced aircraft, said the F-47 would be “the world’s first sixth-generation fighter”.

He said the aircraft was on track to fly before US President Donald Trump’s term ended in January 2029. Its first flight is targeted for 2028.

Meanwhile, China’s two tailless next-generation fighters, commonly known as the J-36 and J-50, have been observed on test flights since December 2024.