The success of the Jiutian will prove to the world that the entire Western defense base has made the wrong bet in terms of aircraft.
As the United States funds the construction of its fantastical F-47 sixth-generation warplane and the Trump administration calls for an upgrade of America’s existing F-35 Lightning II into the so-called “F-55”, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is moving forward with truly innovative—and far, far more cost-effective—new weapons that completely upend the underlying assumptions of traditional airpower in the United States.
Notably, Beijing appears to be committed to ending the cult of the cockpit and fully embracing the dominion of drones in modern warfare.
The Western Defense Industry Keeps Churning Out Duds
Of course, the Americans have had a front row seat to these rapid, fundamental changes over the past two decades. Washington was, after all, the first great drone power. The U.S. military pioneered the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the Global War on Terror, and Washington was again reminded of the potency of drones throughout the Ukraine War. And throughout the ongoing Israel-Iran crisis, both the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Iran and its allied proxies throughout the Middle East have demonstrated the potency of drones.
Most recently, the world got a front row view to the ubiquity of drones in modern warfare during the four-day spat between India and Pakistan, known in India as “Operation Sindoor.”
That conflict, though short in duration, has upended Western defense contractors’ baseline assumptions about the nature of modern conflict. Cheap but sophisticated Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missiles and J-10 warplanes operated by the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) successfully rebuffed India’s attempt to decapitate the Pakistani military using far more advanced equipment. So not only is there a true revolution in military affairs underway with drones at the epicenter of this momentous shift, but the Chinese are apparently pushing ahead in the new revolution in military affairs, thanks to their ability to churn out such systems at a massive scale and a far lower per-unit cost.
Indeed, China intends to test its new Jiutian SS super-altitude drone next month. The Americans have not bothered to develop anything like this system—which is far cheaper and likely more relevant to the modern battlefield than anything the Pentagon is blowing its exorbitant budget on today.
China’s Jiutian Surveillance Drone Is Better than Anything America Has
Developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the Jiutian SS-UAV is a massive surveillance drone comparable in size to America’s World War II-era bomber, the B-25 Mitchell. But AVIC has designed its new drone to be so much more than a simple surveillance platform. It is, in fact, a multirole system that, thanks to its innovative “heterogeneous honeycomb mission bay,” can serve as both an attack platform and a drone mothership.
Thanks to the modular mission bay on the Jiutian, the drone will be able to deploy various other smaller drones. Paired with China’s impressive mass production capacity, an armada of Jiutian SS-UAVs, armed with swarms of smaller attack UAVs, will be more than sufficient for saturating and disrupting enemy defenses.
First unveiled at the 2024 Zhuhai Air Show, the Jiutian is designed to reach—and maintain—extremely high altitudes—hence its name “Jiutian,” which means “high altitude” in Chinese. That elevated operational altitude also gives the impressive drone mothership an extended range for long-duration missions. What’s more, the drone is harder to detect by ground-based radars—both because of its high altitude as well as due to its unique stealth configuration.
One such innovative feature on the SS-UAV is the single, rear-thrust engine. That rear-thrust single-engine is key for enhancing the Jiutian’s stealth features. These drone motherships will be deployed into combat zones after China’s massive arsenal of missiles utterly decimate whatever defenses an enemy possesses. The SS-UAV drone motherships will be deployed to ensure that the targeted enemy—likely Taiwan—cannot effectively rally and counterattack Chinese forces.
For years, Chinese drone makers have quietly perfected their tradecraft. Throughout the 2010s, Beijing sold drones derived from the Wing Loong and Caihong series to various foreign clients, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other clients throughout the war-torn Middle East and North Africa. China’s foreign clients routinely sent field reports on the efficacy and functionality of Chinese-built drones, which then were folded into the further development of Beijing’s unmanned arsenal.
All this resulted in the creation of the Jiutian, which is going to prove to the world that the entire Western defense base has made the wrong bet in terms of aircraft. A fleet of these Jiutians paired with Chinese massive missile arsenal will be more than sufficient to break that back of whatever resistance a Western-backed military can muster.
The West Can Still Win—but It Must Learn from Beijing
It used to be that quantity had a quality of its own. Now, thanks to the last decade of China’s military modernization, quality is on a long march with quantity.
The West needs to go back to the drawing board now. For starters, avoid conflict for the next decade; scale back involvement in Europe, stay out of the Middle East. And, most importantly, focus on making affordable weapons that are actually relevant to today’s battlefield.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration appears to be mired in the cult of the cockpit. U.S. airpower will surely suffer as a result.
This is not an academic debate. At this rate, given that outdated thinking governs the American defense industrial base, America is on track to lose a war against the Chinese. The U.S. defense community sounds much like the French defense thinkers on the eve of the Second World War, with their deep commitment to the technologies of the past—and their refusal to see that a whole new way of warfare is nearly upon them.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock / Anelo.
