Could China’s sixth-generation fighter carry a laser to defend against incoming missiles?

China may be aiming to equip its sixth-generation fighter jets with laser weapons that experts say could help defend them against incoming missiles.

At the 14th China International Defence Electronics Exhibition, held in Beijing from September 15 to 17, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) Beijing Precision Engineering Institute for Aircraft Industry presented details of a “fighter aircraft laser-weapon tracking and aiming system”.

According to social media posts, the booth display said the system weighed less than 380kg (838lbs), although key performance figures were partly obscured.

10:01

What do we know about China’s two next-generation aircraft?

Transmission power was listed as “*00kW” – implying at least 100kW if the asterisk concealed a single digit – while the system’s dynamic tracking accuracy, a measure of how precisely it could maintain its aim over time, was redacted as “* μrad (RMS)”.