China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has unveiled a new weapon with old roots: a retired J-6 fighter jet, converted into a combat drone capable of carrying out swarm attacks. The reveal came at the Changchun air show in northeast China.
Built in the thousands between the 1960s and 1980s, the J-6, a second-generation supersonic jet based on the Soviet MiG-19, once served as a workhorse of the Chinese air force. It has a maximum speed of Mach 1.3, a combat range of about 700 km (435 miles), and can carry up to 250 kg (550 lbs) of munitions.
Now, decades later, the PLA has transformed the jet into an unmanned system. According to information at the air show, “It can serve as a strike aircraft or as a target drone in training.” The first unmanned J-6 reportedly flew as early as 1995.
The modifications are relatively straightforward: crew-related systems such as cannons, auxiliary tanks, and ejection seats have been removed, while autonomous flight controls, autopilot, and terrain-matching navigation have been added. Extra weapon stations also boost the aircraft’s payload. The result is a fast, inexpensive, and expendable drone.
The advantage of the J-6 drone lies not in sophistication, but in numbers. Analysts estimate that the PLA still has around 3,000 J-6s at its disposal. In a Taiwan conflict scenario, these drones could be deployed in swarms to overwhelm air defenses.
Retired Taiwanese lieutenant-general Shuai Hua-ming voiced concern on national television, warning: “I’m not afraid of the Dongfeng [the PLA’s ballistic missiles] – I’m worried about this drone. Hundreds or even thousands of these aircraft could come in a swarm – that would be more terrifying than missiles.” He stressed that Taiwan’s imported U.S. Patriot interceptors are costly, making attrition battles difficult to sustain.
If not intercepted, the drones could bomb high-value ground targets or even strike them directly in kamikaze-style suicide missions at supersonic speeds.
Military commentator and former PLA instructor Song Zhongping explained the tactical role of the converted jets: “Taiwan is an area with one of the highest concentrations of air defence missiles. In the event of a conflict, the safety of manned aircraft cannot be fully guaranteed, and the cost of losing them would be high. Unmanned aircraft are needed to suppress and deplete the air defence capabilities.”
Song also underlined the low cost of the conversion: “The simplest and most cost-effective conversion would be to use it as a kamikaze drone. If used as a reconnaissance drone, the conversion cost would be much higher.”
Because the J-6 is a full-sized fighter jet with minimal modern avionics, it may also be less vulnerable to electronic jamming or directed-energy weapons than smaller drones. That makes it a useful decoy: by provoking Taiwan’s radar systems to emit signals, the drones could expose those defenses to electronic warfare and missile strikes.
The debut of the J-6 drone comes against the backdrop of heightened cross-Strait tensions. Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve unification. Since the Democratic Progressive Party came to power in 2016, the PLA has increased its pressure on the island, while the U.S. and regional allies continue to oppose any unilateral change of the status quo.
With thousands of expendable J-6 drones now potentially in the PLA’s arsenal, Taiwan faces a new challenge: how to counter swarms of supersonic aircraft designed to exhaust defenses and clear the skies for more advanced fighters like the J-20.