China’s Massive GJ‑X Stealth Flying‑Wing Drone Spotted in Flight for First Time

China’s massive GJ‑X stealth flying‑wing unmanned aircraft was observed in flight for the first time over Malan drone test base, months after imagery showed the 'cranked kite' planform parked on the runway. The sortie underlines China’s advancing large UAS flight‑testing and low‑observable design progress.

Discovered 2025-10-19T13:52:47.273961-07:00 | 2025-10-19T13:52:47.273961-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • The first observed flight moves the GJ‑X programme from static imagery to airborne trials, a concrete test‑program milestone following earlier runway sightings at the Malan test base.
  • A large, low‑observable flying‑wing expands China’s UAS capability envelope and complements recent domestic unmanned combat developments such as the country’s reported VTOL UCAV testing.
  • The event occurs alongside an intensified Chinese aerospace tempo, including an accelerating Yaogan reconnaissance satellite launch cadence and parallel stealth aviation advances like the J‑35B low‑rate serial production activity.

Reported By

indiandefencereview.com worldwarwings.com interestingengineering.com Flying Magazine realcleardefense.com aerospaceglobalnews.com
Sources Tracked
8
First Seen
2025-10-19T13:52:47.273961-07:00
Latest Update
2025-10-23T08:11:44.582015-07:00
Coverage
Defense

Sources

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