China’s Sixth-Generation Signal: The Chengdu Flight and the New Geometry of Air Power

Introduction: Signaling a New Era of Air Dominance The brief, carefully staged appearance of an unfamiliar tailless aircraft over Chengdu was not an isolated test flight—it was a strategic communication event. In today’s environment of accelerating military modernization, technological decoupling, and heightened great-power competition, such moments are rarely accidental. They are signals—designed to shape perception,…