AI-Generated Fake Video Claims Chinese J-20 Fighter Can Vertically Take Off
Chinese officials shared an AI-generated video falsely claiming the J-20 fighter jet can perform vertical takeoff without a runway. France Télévisions' fact-checking team reported on 13 June 2025 that the video violated physics and contained typical AI generation errors, and that the original source was a 2024 air show photograph processed through AI.
What happened
A video posted on 3 June 2025 on the Chinese platform Kuaishou claimed the J-20 fighter jet could perform vertical takeoff without a runway. Multiple Chinese Communist Party officials, including the Chinese consul general in Belfast Zhang Meifang, shared the video simultaneously from the account '小爽說' (Xiaozhuangshuoshuo) on Kuaishou, which accumulated hundreds of thousands of views and likes.
France Télévisions' fact-checking platform reported on 13 June 2025 that the video was AI-generated. Military experts and a former pilot with over 20 years of experience from Le Bourget Air Base identified multiple indicators of AI generation, including violation of physics laws in the takeoff sequence, lack of visible heat and airflow beneath the aircraft, only one engine visible instead of two, and unrealistic ground proximity during transition.
Reported impact
The disinformation reached hundreds of thousands of people on Kuaishou, with the video accumulating hundreds of thousands of likes. Chinese official state media did not report on the claimed capability but also did not verify or debunk the circulating video and claims.
Index analysis
French Television identified that the original source material was a photograph from the 2024 Zhuhai Air Show, subsequently processed through AI to generate animated video. The AI generation contained typical errors such as rendering only one engine turbine when the J-20 model should have two.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.