China's GJ-11 Stealth Combat Drone Hit Its Target in First Live-Fire Test After Losing It in Cloud
China's state broadcaster CCTV has aired new footage of the GJ-11 stealth combat drone, including the first close-up of its internal weapon bays. CCTV said cloud initially hid the target in the drone's first live-fire test, but it hit on a second pass.
China's state broadcaster CCTV on Monday, November 9, aired new footage of the GJ-11, a flying-wing stealth combat drone, showing its internal weapon bays up close for the first time. The report was part of CCTV's countdown to the 77th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) on Wednesday. CCTV said thick cloud nearly prevented the drone from finding its target in its first live-fire test, yet it scored a hit. The broadcaster gave neither the date of the test nor the weapon used.
What the footage shows
The doors of the weapon bays have serrated edges, the clearest new detail. The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, said the design suggests the drone can carry relatively large missiles without losing stealth. The Aviationist counts two bays on the underside, between the main landing gear. The clips also show a shielded jet nozzle and a low-visibility coating. A faceted optical window beneath the nose resembles the electro-optical targeting system of the J-20 stealth fighter. Unlike in the PLAAF's November 2025 anniversary film, the landing gear now retracts after takeoff.
The GJ-11 is the air force's first stealth combat and reconnaissance drone. It was unveiled at the October 2019 parade marking 70 years of the People's Republic, and the Post says it entered service no later than 2025.
Working with crewed aircraft
According to CCTV, the drone has operated in coordination with another drone and can work with crewed aircraft: scouting enemy air defenses, drawing fire as a decoy, or launching guided munitions on a crewed aircraft's direction. Operator Shi Xiaoran said the drone could not find the target through cloud on its first run, circled back, located it on the second pass and hit it. The tests took place at a desert facility in northwestern China.
Chinese state media reported on October 30 that the GJ-21, the carrier-based variant of the GJ-11, took off from and landed aboard the Sichuan, a Type 076 amphibious assault ship.
US comparison
On July 15, the US Air Force said Anduril's YFQ-44A drone had fired an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile at a digital target over California's Mojave Desert, with a human operator ordering the shot.
