On U.S. Navy vessels, the call to emergency action stations is “General Quarters.” China‘s public display of the world’s first sixth-generation fighter jet is a call to general quarters, to action stations, for the whole of our society.

The display on Dec. 26 near Chengdu, in central China, was of an aircraft matching sixth-generation airframe characteristics. It was filmed making a short demonstration flight. Dubbed by observers as the J-36, the new fighter jet was designed by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation. It follows China’s 2017 deployment of the impressive fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighter jet and China’s advanced stage development of its J-35 stealth fighter jet, based heavily on the design of the world-leading U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jet.