PLA shows first footage of Chinese GJ-11 drone working with crewed J-20 fighter

Name: What did China’s military parade tell us about its capabilities and global standing?
Uploaded: 2025-11-11T13:02:07.000Z
Duration: 6 min 7 s
Description: What did China’s military parade tell us about its capabilities and global standing?

Military promotional video is the first time China has publicly shown its manned-unmanned teaming technology

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

China’s PLA Air Force has released video footage of its stealth attack drone GJ-11 flying alongside and linking with its J-20 fighter jet. Photo: Weibo/人民空軍

Alcott Weiin Beijing

Published: 9:02pm, 11 Nov 2025Updated: 9:16pm, 11 Nov 2025

The Chinese air force has released video of its GJ-11 stealth attack drone flying alongside and linked to the J-20 fighter jet in what is the first footage of the country’s crewed and uncrewed aircraft working together.

The footage appeared in a promotional video released by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force on Tuesday to mark the 76th anniversary of its founding.

It shows the drone flying in formation with the J-20, China’s most advanced fighter jet, as well as the J-16D fighter, a variant of the J-16 with a focus on electronic warfare. The GJ-11 was flying in front of the other two aircraft, highlighting its role in getting closer to targets than manned fighters.

06:07

What did China’s military parade tell us about its capabilities and global standing?

The new drone in the promotional video is code-named Xuanlong 08. A fighter pilot in the video, code-named Weilong, says: “Weilong 01 received, already collaborating with Xuanlong.”

Weilong is a nickname for China’s J-20 fifth-generation fighter jet. The air force’s social media post containing the footage was captioned “GJ-11 flight debut”.

It is the first time China has publicly shown its manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) technology.

In 2022, a plan for MUM-T involving J-20s was revealed when state broadcaster CCTV showed animation of a J-20 controlling a formation of stealth drones to execute strikes. It showed a twin-seat variant of the J-20 – a design believed to accommodate a second pilot to control drones in the formation.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x

PLA shows first footage of Chinese GJ-11 drone working with crewed J-20 fighter

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Military promotional video is the first time China has publicly shown its manned-unmanned teaming technology

Military promotional video is the first time China has publicly shown its manned-unmanned teaming technology