Note: The following text was originally posted on my X/Twitter account.
One of the many Chinese munitions set to be formally displayed at the forthcoming military parade in Beijing is the CJ-20A cruise missile. This appears to be a rebranded KD-20—K/AKD20—air-launched cruise missile, which is a design that has been in service for around 15 years. While the KD-20 is primarily associated with the PLA Air Force's H-6K bombers, it can also be launched by the closely related H-6J and H-6N, as well as the older and less capable H-6M. Like the KD-20/KD-20A, the CJ-20A is far too large to be carried by the PLAAF's non-bomber crewed combat aircraft. The fact that this is an air-launched munition—(mockups of) multiple ship/submarine-launched and air-launched munitions are being displayed on trucks at the forthcoming military parade, as with many military parades around the world—is betrayed by the presence of two suspension lugs on top of the fuselage.
It is not clear why the KD-20A may have been rebranded with the CJ- prefix, which has not been previously associated with China's air-launched guided munitions. The PLA Rocket Force (PLARF) has long operated a seemingly limited number—relative to the PLARF's extensive deployment of conventionally-armed ground-launched ballistic missiles—of conventionally-armed ground-launched CJ-10/CJ-10A land-attack cruise missiles and associated wheeled launcher vehicles. While the PLARF's ground-launched CJ-10 has previously been referred to as the DF-10 and DH-10, the PLAAF's air-launched land-attack cruise missile has long been known by the KD-20/KD-20A designation, with the KD- prefix being widely used for Chinese air-launched land-attack guided munitions alongside the more recent KF- prefix.
Additional information about the specifics of the CJ-20A—which may or may not reflect major differences in comparison to the KD-20/KD-20—may be released during and following the 3 September military parade in Beijing. Images from the rehearsals for the aerial component of the forthcoming military parade—which will be headlined by a diverse array of PLAAF crewed combat aircraft, including multiple H-6K, H-6J, and H-6N bombers—indicate that the PLAAF's reportedly nuclear-capable and aerial refuelling probe-equipped H-6N bombers will be carrying two KD-20/KD-20A—perhaps CJ-20A—cruise missiles in flight. While the PLA Navy (PLAN) has previously displayed the munitions launched by its submarines and surface ships on trucks for the purposes of a parade, this is a new practice for the PLAAF—the PLAAF did not display any of its air-launched munitions on trucks at the 1 October 2019 military parade in Beijing. It remains to be seen why the CJ-20A is being displayed on a truck while the KD-20/KD-20A will be carried by H-6N bombers that will fly over the parade.