Spy Satellite Uncovers Massive Stealth Flying Wing At Secretive Chinese Base

China is well aware that Western spy satellites, including those operated by the U.S., maintain constant overhead surveillance of high-value military assets, such as bases and research facilities. 

The deliberate exposure of a previously unseen, large, low-observable flying-wing HALE (High-Altitude Long-Endurance) unmanned aerial vehicle at the Malan test facility may not have been an accident. 

Instead, it appears to be a deliberate act of signaling by Beijing to the Trump administration, highlighting the rapid acceleration of China’s next-generation air combat capabilities at a time when the global security environment is rapidly deteriorating.

With the war in Ukraine ongoing and tensions in the Middle East escalating into a hot crisis, Beijing’s timing suggests an intent to assert technological parity and deterrence against the U.S. Broadly speaking, the world is entering a more dangerous and unstable era — a shift from a unipolar world with the U.S. in control to a bipolar geopolitical order, where volatility is expected to intensify throughout the 2030s.

The War Zone’s Tyler Rogoway cited new satellite spy images via Planet Labs that show the previously unseen HALE drone at a secretive test base near Malan in Xinjiang province. 

Massive Stealth Flying Wing Emerges At Secretive Chinese Base

This appears to be China’s largest high-altitude, long-endurance drone, and one that has clear low observable qualities.

Exclusive: https://t.co/NNbs6SyxCq

— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) June 15, 2025

“Specifically, the craft was parked outside of a sprawling new facility that was built very recently to the east of the base, connected to it by a very long taxiway leading to a security gate,” Rogoway said.

Rogoway pointed out the drone’s design resembles that of the B-21 Raider and possibly the U.S. RQ-180, with clipped wingtips, a domed center section (likely housing engines or systems), and possibly small vertical stabilizers to aid flight stability.

This drone may mark a significant leap in China’s next-generation drone combat ecosystem, possibly supporting or integrating with other platforms, such as the H-20 bomber, J-36, and smaller tactical drones — mirroring the U.S. approach.