The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC)’s Dark Sword Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) is expected to make its first flight in the mid to late 2020s. It first appeared at the October 2006 Zhuhai Airshow as a conceptual model. After a 12-year silence, in 2018, pictures of the Dark Sword appeared online. These caused a sensation among experts and fueled a debate about its capabilities and the status of its development.
Publicly available information about the secretive Dark Sword program is scarce. Details that have surfaced can provide insight into the Chinese armed forces’ progress in integrating drones and their development of unmanned aircraft in relation to the West.
1 What is the Dark Sword exactly?
The Dark Sword, or “An Jian,” prototype is a stealth, supersonic UCAV. Like the GJ-11, it appears to function and operate as an autonomous wingman drone. Tethered to manned aircraft it could also act as an independent drone capable of collecting data or conducting targeting operations.
Most importantly, the Dark Sword would be the first UCAV to be able to conduct air-to-air combat. This makes it distinct from the GJ-11 and a competitor to models from the West.
Due its supersonic capabilities, as well as the presence of a Diverterless Supersonic Inlet (DSI), the Dark Sword is able to coordinate with J-20 and J-31 stealth fighters. These fighters also carry such technology. An Jian’s speed renders it able to race ahead of manned aircraft. Thus it is an important force multiplier in counter-air operations.
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1.1 What does it look like?
1.2 Dark Sword’s known specs and capabilities?
Dark Sword shares other Chinese stealth aircrafts’ features—such as a DSI, edge alignment, and sawtooth edges. The latter help combat radar reflectivity. It features a dark grey paint scheme, like the J-20.
Exact specifications are unknown, since only a few blurred photographs and models exist. Experts have approximated its length at 30 feet. It has a dark exterior, which helps with radar detection. Engine and weaponry details are unknown.
1.3 Who developed it?
The Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute (SYADI) of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), along with the Shenyang Aerospace University (SAU), developed seven iterations of the AVIC 601-S in the early 2000s. Two of those iterations advanced beyond proof of concept and moved into intensive development.
The first model was the “Sharp Sword” or GJ-11, while the second model was the Dark Sword. Dark Sword emphasized speed while the GJ-11’s was focused more on stealth. AVIC is still developing the Dark Sword iteration. The lack of information may either suggest it is in an intensive R&D phase or that a lack of funding has put the project on hold.
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2 Dark Sword
The Dark Sword is being developed to potentially operate alongside manned aircraft, acting as a “loyal wingman.” This concept involves the UCAV flying ahead of manned fighters, gathering intelligence, providing targeting data, or engaging flying enemy targets independently.
The Dark Sword features stealth characterists and should fly at supersonic speeds. This potentially enables it to penetrate enemy defenses and strike targets with speed and surprise, similarly to the GJ-11, but with far more speed than its predecessor.
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2.1 Potential PLAN Role
Analysis from The War Zone suggests that the Dark Sword might be deployable from China’s new catapult-assisted take-off platform carriers due to Dark Sword’s DSI technology. Thus, the platform’s inclusion of DSI is really the only piece of information that points to Dark Sword’s potential role in People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) operations. The GJ-11, by comparison, faces significant challenges regarding operations from carriers.
According to GlobalSecurity analysis, Dark Sword may be able to carry anti-ship ballistic missiles, which—if true—would make it useful in surface attacks. Its supersonic capabilities, but possibly low survivability due the drone’s tail and thus its inability to avoid low-frequency radar, makes it more suitable for operations across the Taiwan Straits than medium or long-endurance operations in the Western Pacific.
2.2 Potential PLAAF Role
While not officially confirmed, the Dark Sword will probably serve the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Specifically, it could potentially complement or supplement the PLAAF’s existing fleet of manned fighters, like the J-20 or the J-31.
Similar in purpose to the GJ-11, but with more speed than stealth, the Dark Sword would be ideal for operations to protect manned aircraft against incoming fighters or to collect tactical level intelligence. However, the Dark Sword is not as well suited for electronic warfare purposes as the GJ-11.
The speed of An Jian is by far its most important asset when it comes to integration in PLAAF doctrine and operations. By integrating speed with eliminating the need for a live pilot to operate it in combat, the Dark Sword has the potential to become an extremely deadly and relatively cost-effective tool in the PLAAF’s arsenal against enemy aircraft in A2/AD operations close to the Chinese homeland or the First Island Chain.
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3 Comparable Western Tech to Dark Sword
3.1 X-47B
The closest Western analog to Dark Sword probably is the X-47B by Northrop Grumman. The X-47B is a tailless, strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft. It is being developed as part of the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) Carrier Demonstration program. There are currently two X-47Bs in testing, which in 2013 and 2015 made breakthroughs in carrier-based launches and recoveries, and autonomous aerial refuelling respectively.
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3.2 YFQ-42
The General Atomics YFQ-42 is a UCAV prototype developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) for the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program.
It’s designed to operate as a “loyal wingman,” alongside crewed fighter aircraft like the F-22 and F-35. The YFQ-42A is intended to enhance air superiority through autonomous and crewed-uncrewed teaming, providing a flexible, affordable, and effective force multiplier, similar to the Dark Sword and GJ-11 Chinese counterparts.
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4 Conclusion
The Dark Sword is a concept that stresses the impact of drones in conventional warfare. It is a prototype that, if fully developed and deployed, will provide the Chinese military with a significant force-multiplier against local adversaries and even against the United States, which has long maintained preference for manned over unmanned projects.
If successfully fielded, the AVIC Dark Sword could alter the balance of air power in the Indo-Pacific, offering China a high-speed, low-observable unmanned platform capable of penetrating contested airspace and operating in coordination with manned assets.
Its potential to conduct long-range reconnaissance and air-to-air combat without risking pilots aligns with Beijing’s emphasis on asymmetric capabilities to offset U.S. and allied air superiority. While still shrouded in mystery, the Dark Sword’s development underscores China’s intent to redefine unmanned combat roles and to force regional powers to adapt their own air defense and UAV strategies in response.