New Chinese fighter revealed? Maybe or maybe not. Most probably just a very well known L-15 advanced jet trainer.

Although many media outlets around the world suggest the aircraft being moved on a truck on the highway from Beijing to Shenyang (whose photos have been published on several Chinese blogs) is a new Shenyang F-60 plane it is at least weird that a brand new stealthy fighter is transported in such an awkward way.

Moreover its shape seems to be much similar to the one of the Hongdu L-15 advanced jet trainer.

Image credit: Chinese Internet

At least two prototypes have been built by China and this may be either a new example or an upgraded variant of the aircraft being developed to meet the PLAAF/PLANAF Lead-In Fighter Trainer (LIFT) requirements.

That said the quality of the images is so poor that it’s almost impossible to determine the type of LERX (Leading Edge Root Extentions), cockpit, and so on, and completely rule out the possibility that the fighter is a training airframe, mock-up or really another fifth generation fighter plane inspired by the Lockheed Martin’s F-22 and F-35.

Image credit: Wiki

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.