Overview
- State media and CASC’s 11th Academy confirmed the first flight took place recently at an airfield in northwest China, marking the start of formal flight trials.
- Developers said the sortie verified autonomous taxiing, takeoff and landing, attitude control, and trajectory tracking, with results aligning to design models.
- Officials indicated the test program now moves to flight‑performance envelope work and verification of onboard mission payloads.
- The tailless flying‑wing platform is presented as a low‑observable, long‑endurance ISTAR asset for maritime surveillance and target‑data relay, with sensor suites described to include optical and infrared systems.
- Uncertainties persist over configuration and mission systems, with unofficial footage showing a variant with canted fins and reports mentioning weapons bays without independent evidence of internal stores.