A new aircraft has been spotted at a remote base in China’s northwestern province of Xinjiang, a region dubbed the country’s own Area 51. Experts say the country is likely testing the next generation of stealth warfare. China military aviation researcher Andreas Rupprecht captured photos of the large mystery aircraft with a flying-wing design at Malan Air Base. He shared the photos on his LinkedIn page. According to him, it is the WZ-X, a twin-engine drone they believe can fly to any US city.
“The UAV was first spotted on satellite imagery in May 2025 at the PLAAF’s UAV test centre at Malan Air Base in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of northwestern China,” he wrote. Its remote location and its role in testing next-generation weapon systems have led to the base being often compared to the US Area 51.
Dubbed the “Monster of Malan”, the drone has a range of over 19,000 kilometres and can fly at heights of over 60,000 feet. These features will see it being put to use for high-altitude, long-endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or HALE ISR. It is estimated to be the same size as an American B-2 stealth bomber.
Rupprecht says China’s state-of-the-art military warplanes have also started training in Malan, and the base is also being used to develop more drones, such as combat drone prototypes. China is already testing J-20, and reports suggest J-36 and J-XDS are also in the same phase.
China’s other specialised military bases
China has other specialised secret bases as well. This includes Lop Nur, Yanliang (CFTE) test site, followed by Dingxin, Malan and Cangzhou. Lop Nur is of particular concern and is believed to be the main base for developing the country’s nuclear arsenal. In 2020, there were rumours of a nuclear test here. China detonated its first nuclear bomb in October 1964 in this region in the remote province of Xinjiang.
Dingxin in the Gobi Desert is believed to be China’s major tactics and training base; Yanliang Chinese Flight Test Establishment is its main factory flight-test centre, and Cangzhou Air Base is the flight test and training base for the PLAAF.
Meanwhile, Malan has developed extensively, as satellite images from 2022 show new hangars and runways. There are also facilities linked to “previously unknown, very large flying-wing UAVs WZ-X and the similarly mysterious UCAV GJ-X, both of which are roughly comparable in size to the B-21 Raider,” he wrote.
GJ-X may be the hidden gem here since it will carry weapons and fly alongside Chinese fighter aircraft. Meanwhile, the WZ-X would not have any weapons on board.
Could a conflict be brewing between US and China?
Experts say there are no signs that a major conflict is about to erupt between the two countries. The US recently announced that it had deployed weapons in space. US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said the “on-orbit” weapon was necessary to safeguard American forces. China responded by saying that the US should stop the weaponisation of space and avoid turning it into a war zone. With China extensively building its military arsenal and the US’s latest space route, both countries could once again be locked into an open tussle.( _WION_ )
