Lead designer Yang Shuifeng from China's Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute states that the research and development team's experience and capability cannot start from zero, enabling rapid progress on the sixth-generation J-36 fighter. China and the US are the two leading countries developing sixth-generation fighters.
Yang Shuifeng, a lead designer of China's cutting-edge stealth fighters, serves as senior engineer and director of the performance research division at the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute’s overall design department. In a paper published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics on November 28, Yang wrote: “The experience and capability of the research and development team cannot start from zero.”
According to Yang and his co-authors, institutions with established “design capability, development infrastructure and production facilities” and deep familiarity with foundational industrial systems—such as relevant chips, materials, components and standard parts—can provide the scientific planning, process management, performance evaluation and oversight needed to “rapidly mobilise human, material and financial resources” and drive programmes forward at speed.
This underscores that experience and skill in building stealth fighter jets is crucial to get the competitive edge on rivals. China has leveraged its expertise from fifth-generation jets like the J-20 to fast-track the J-36, putting it years ahead of the US's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. Key terms include Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute, J-20, J-35, J-36, PLAAF, and Beijing.
