Chinese SAC - FC-31/J-35 5th Gen Stealth Aircraft

Deino said:
In fact I'm most surprised why we altogether have more and better images of SAC's J-XDS at hand than from the J-35!

Even more what's the current status - maybe @Michael can help? - of both the naval variant and the landbased version? Is it indeed in LRI-production already ... and when will we finally see it?
Click to expand...
At present, there is no more updated news.

The last news I got was at the end of last year. The J-35 related factories received a notice that the superior department required to further accelerate the development speed of the J-35. It is expected to participate in the Victory Day Parade on September 3 this year.

According to the actual situation analysis, the current J-35 still comes from the experimental production system of the old SAC factory, not the mass production system.

The J-35 exposed during the Zhuhai Air Show last year was a semi-finished product, and they have not yet installed the combat system. If the J-35 is determined to participate in the Victory Day Parade on September 3 this year, it must be a standard complete fighter. This process takes some time. At present, the J-35 is a beautiful aircraft, but it is not yet a "fighter". It needs to install a lot of equipment and undergo rigorous military testing. This process is usually not exposed.

SAC's new toy. Although it is also a product of SAC, its R&D department is not exactly the same as that of the J-35. This is related to the management structure of China's military scientific research system.
A design institute has many different departments under it.
There are several general design departments, which are responsible for the overall design of different types of fighters.
There are several specific technical departments, which are responsible for the design of each subsystem or specific technical function.

Analyzing from the information currently exposed, the new toys of SAC and CAC have actually been in progress for a long time. They started earlier than the J-35 project. The official start time of the J-35 project was actually very short (in the early days, FC-31 belonged to the SAC private project and was not regarded as the official start of the J-35 project).
 
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China Reveals Details About New Stealth Jet​

Published May 15, 2025 at 11:28 AM EDT

AChinese researcher who has led development of the J-35A stealth fighter jet says that the aircraft will play a major role in defending the nation against enemy aerial attacks.

Last November, China unveiled the J-35A—its second fighter aircraft capable of avoiding radar detection—during an airshow, making the East Asian power the second country after the United States to operate more than one type of stealth fighter jet, alongside its J-20.

Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Defense Ministry for comment by email.

Why It Matters​

According to a Pentagon assessment report, China's aviation forces are the largest in the Indo-Pacific region and the third largest in the world, with over 3,150 aircraft in total—including about 2,400 combat aircraft—with the capability to project airpower over long distances.

The J-20 and the J-35A are classified as so-called "fifth-generation" fighter aircraft, with low radar observability—commonly known as stealth—as their defining characteristic. China is also developing two advanced "next-generation" combat jets aimed at rivaling America's F-47.

Chinese J-35A Fighter Jet

A Chinese J-35A fighter jet is seen over Zhuhai in China's Guangdong Province on November 8, 2024. VCG/VCG via AP

What To Know​

The J-35A provides what Wang Yongqing, chief researcher at the Aviation Industry Corp of China's Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute, described as "systems coordination" or "multi-domain coordination" in combat, the China Daily reported.

"It [the J-35A] can lock on the targets, share the targets' position with other weapon systems, such as surface-to-air missiles, and even use its own radar to guide other weapons to bring the targets down," he told the state-run newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, it was the first time the chief designer had "elaborated on" the J-35A jet's role in air defense. He pointed out that the aircraft enables the defense system to detect, track, and intercept targets, while coordinating with other assets within the system.

Wang said development of the J-35A was part of the Chinese air force's efforts to neutralize "high-level threats," including enemy stealth jets.

"Our adversaries will definitely use their stealth aircraft or low-observable cruise missiles to penetrate our air defense networks," he explained, without naming any specific countries. The U.S. and its allies, including Japan, operate a large number of F-35 stealth fighter jets.

Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-35, has claimed that the aircraft—described as a "force multiplier"—has demonstrated its ability to link with missile defense systems to detect, track, and destroy threats "sooner and safer" by providing sensor data in a network.

What People Are Saying​

Wang Yongqing, chief researcher on the J-35A at the Aviation Industry Corp of China's Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute, told the China Daily: "We will design and make whatever the motherland and the people need to protect our skies."

U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General David W. Allvin told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the J-35A appears to draw inspiration from the F-35: "[Y]ou could put [a J-35A] side-by-side and see, at least, where we believe they got their blueprints from."

What Happens Next​

According to Wang, the J-35A will be an affordable, powerful stealth jet that will form part of an Chinese aircraft fleet at a "considerable scale."

www.newsweek.com

China reveals details about new stealth jet

"We will design and make whatever the motherland and the people need to protect our skies," the project leader for China's J-35A jet said.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com
 
Beijingwalker said:

J-35 stealth fighter to greatly boost China's naval aviation combat capabilities​

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CGTN is Chinese government mouthpiece, so J-35 is indeed for the Chinese navy.
 
CATIC's booth at LIMA 2025.

I found one detail. It is still called “FC-31”.

So, is it possible that the official code of its export version is “FC-31” and the official code of PLA's own version is “J-35” series.

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