After the first official images of China’s J-35A stealth fighter emerged in Chinese media ahead of the aircraft’s official debut at the 2024 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China), held in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, the aircraft made its first public flight performance at the show on 12 November 2024.
Developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) over the last decade or so in parallel with the Chengdu J-20 fifth-generation fighter, the J-35A is derived from the FC-31: a designation reflecting the fact that the type was originally developed by SAC as an export-focused project.
The FC-31 thus first flew on 31 October 2012 as a private venture, but then the Chinese military – initially the People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF) – began to take an interest in the aircraft. A navalised variant designated the J-35 and featuring a catapult launch bar and folding wings first flew on 29 October 2021, while the land-based J-35A now making its debut only made its maiden flight on 26 September 2023.
The J-35A has thus taken some time to come to fruition, since the J-20, which first flew on 11 January 2011, entered service with the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) in 2017.
At 19.3 m long (FC-31 prototype), the J-35A is smaller than the J-20, which is 20.9 m long, but is still powered by twin turbofans (Chinese WS21s). This is one obvious departure from the Western Lockheed Martin F-35 fifth-generation fighter to which the J-35A is inevitably compared, since the F-35, of which the longest F-35C variant is just 17.7 m long, is powered by a single turbofan. The fact that the J-35A is powered by twin turbofans is a probable indication that, although China can now produce its own fighter powerplants, it has yet to produce one as powerful as the F-35’s Pratt & Whitney F135.
Compared to previous images of the first FC-31 prototype, the J-35A appears sleeker, with more aggressively canted vertical stabilisers (as appeared on a second FC-31 prototype). The J-35A is also more sleeker looking than an F-35. It remains to be seen whether this could affect the J-35A’s ability to carry stores internally (a key requirement for true stealth capabilities).
There are a number of differences between the J-35A and the navalised J-35, with the J-35A having a smaller wing area (as with the F-35A and B, compared to the carrier-based F-35C), slightly different vertical stabilisers, a single nose wheel as opposed to the J-35’s more robust twin nose wheels, and no catapult launch bar or tailhook.
The J-35A also appears to feature a nose-mounted electro-optical targeting system analogous to the Electro-Optical Tracking System (EOTS) of the F-35.
While the J-35A might still be offered for export – to compete with stealthy non-Western designs such as the South Korean KF-21 Boromae and Turkish Kaan – the fact that the J-35A has appeared in grey PLAAF livery and sporting PLAAF insignia suggest that China’s own air force will, indeed, induct the type.
This year’s Airshow China coincides with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PLAAF, which fell on 11 November.
