China’s new drones unveiled after Victory Day parade including massive RQ-180 challenger
September 22, 2025
China’s Victory Day Parade took place on 3rd September and unveiled a range of new uncrewed platforms. Since then, at least two new uncrewed drones have emerged, highlighting the blistering speed of China’s military modernisation. It is generally unclear what stage of development these aircraft are in; it is unclear if they are mockups, demonstrators, prototypes, or in active service.
China’s new UCAV/GJ-X advanced surveillance drone
On 18th September, The War Zone (TWZ) published satellite imagery and reported what appears to be a previously unseen ‘low-observable flight-wing drone variant’ parked on the runway in broad daylight at its secretive test base in China’s Xinjiang region.
Another scaled comparison take of the new UCAV/GJ-X, this time with H-6 and Y-20…
— Rick Joe (@RickJoe_PLA) September 19, 2025
Via 幽窗子-SukhoiT10 https://t.co/ZzkdsBCC6k pic.twitter.com/2r0K0islTJ
The publication postulated that the new pilotless, stealthy drone represents a further evolution of the Caihong-7 (Rainbow-7) stealth UCAV. The CH-7 is primarily for intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance (ISR) roles, but it has also been described as being able to perform strike missions.
What is particularly notable about the new drone aircraft is its massive size, with an estimated wingspan of around 137 feet. This appears to make it somewhere comparable in wingspan to the Air Force’s new B-21 Raider stealth bomber.
In board strokes, this new aircraft appears to be a Chinese counterpart to the secretive US Air Force RQ-180 ISR aircraft that has never been seen in public. The US Air Force has never officially acknowledged the existence of the RQ-180.
China’s new, smaller ISR flying wing
Another new Chinese flying wing uncrewed aircraft was reported by The War Zone on 16th September. This aircraft is believed to be an uncrewed combat vehicle as well as a high-altitude ISR platform.
The new aircraft was seen in China’s Changchun city in Jilin province ahead of the Changchun Air Show. It is much smaller than the giant mentioned above.
"Changchun Air Show: More photos of China's new flying-wing drone" pic.twitter.com/a20HKOBmxd
— tt_125 (@tt12514) September 17, 2025
As with the previous drone, details of this new twin-engined aircraft remain limited. It is possible that the example seen is not the final version and may represent a test aircraft, although it doesn’t appear to be a mockup.
The two new back-to-back revelations after the 2025 China Victory Day Parade underscore China’s rapidly growing range of uncrewed aircraft. Other never-before-seen UAVs were displayed at the parade.
The Sino-American next-generation drone and fighter jet race
China is unveiling an increasing number of flying wing aircraft and advanced tailless next-generation fighter jet designs. Meanwhile, three new stealthy next-generation-looking fighter jets have been seen flying in public since late 2024.
While the flurry of Chinese revelations may give the impression that China is leaping ahead of the United States, that isn’t necessarily the case. Many of the capabilities of these aircraft are in the details, including computer programming and stealth coatings, and these details are impossible to know.
All these Chinese aircraft have been deliberately put on show; participating in parades, left out for satellites to see, or flying over residential areas in the daytime.
In some respects, the United States may be more secretive than China. The US is widely believed to have had the RQ-180 in service since 2015, but it has never been officially seen in public.
While China publicly flew multiple ‘sixth-generation’ demonstrators from late 2024, the US is known to have flown three sixth-generation demonstrators in 2020. No image or even a complete render of these has been released to the public. Of these prototypes, the Boeing demonstrator was selected in 2025 as the next-generation F-47.
