On April 21, a message from the official Twitter account of the U.S. Naval Academy became the fuse for forum provocations in military forums. The message featured a photo-shopped image comparing the U.S. F-35 "Lightning" fifth-generation fighter with the Chinese J-35 "North Fifth Generation" fighter at the same angle. The accompanying caption humorously stated: "It's National Copycat Day! The Chinese military has many weapons that are very similar to systems in other countries. The Shenyang J-35 is designed to copy Lockheed Martin's F-35." Some American netizens commented that this was undoubtedly an advertisement for China's export version of the J-35 fighter. In terms of fifth-generation fighters, the U.S. defense industry indeed has a first-mover advantage, so later developers have inevitably drawn on aspects of its design. If China's J-20 did not have its canard design, it might also have been mocked by Americans as copying the F-22. It cannot be denied that there is indeed a high degree of similarity between China's J-35 and America's F-35. However, what infuriated American netizens was that this tweet from the U.S. Naval Academy was released in an environment where China is absolutely leading in sixth-generation aircraft, while America's F-47 is still in the PPT stage. American military netizens retorted to the "U.S. Naval Academy": What kind of American fighter jet are Chengdu's J-36 and Shenyang's J-XD copying? Prior to this, the U.S. military first avoided discussing China's sixth-generation aircraft and then claimed that the J-36 was not a true "sixth-generation fighter," but rather a stealth-designed "tactical bomber." The principle is simple: as long as the U.S. does not have a sixth-generation fighter, no other country's sixth-generation fighter can be considered one. In fact, even Britain's renowned aviation expert could not figure out the design of the J-36. An article published in the journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society of the UK in March 2025 attempted to unravel one of the most perplexing aviation mysteries since the advent of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25. The article stated that the Chengdu J-20 fighter jet shares certain similarities in appearance with models like the F-22 "Raptor," and observers can deduce its design intentions by comparing differences—provided they do not fall into the trap of "mirror modeling" and mistakenly view it simply as a copy. The above British aviation media emphasized that the Chengdu "J-36" exposed for the first time on December 26, 2024, is completely different. It is larger than all aircraft called "fighters" yet smaller than any "bomber." This is the first known supersonic aircraft to completely eliminate vertical stabilizers. For the J-36, maintaining flight stability without vertical stabilizers represents a significant achievement in military aviation technology. Moreover, the three engines of the J-36 themselves provide three-axis control capabilities within limited maneuvering envelopes, something no other country can achieve. Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7496048536597824034/ Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's personal views. Please express your stance by clicking the "like/dislike" buttons below.