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New Stealth Fighters, Aircraft Carriers And UCAVs: Dissecting The Real State Of China’s Naval Aviation

November 2, 2021 China, Military Aviation, Troubled Areas

DAVID CENCIOTTI

In this image the main differences between the FC-31 and the J-35. (Image via Andreas Rupprecht.

We interviewed Chinese military aviation expert Andreas Rupprecht to learn more about the progress of the PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) Naval Aviation.

Last week we reported about the the existence of two new stealth fighters in China. The first one is a two-seater variant of the J-20 (J-20B or J-20S) that carried out a taxi test in yellow primer at Chengdu Aerospace Corporation plant on Oct. 27, 2021. Then, two days later, images started circulating online of a “navalized” stealth fighter (possibly designated J-35), a carrier capable variant of the land based FC-31, in green primer, during what might have been the type’s first flight.

Therefore, in a matter of a few days, China has shown the world that along with being the first ever to operate a two-seater stealth fighter, it will also be the first nation outside of the U.S. to develop a fully domestic carrier capable stealth fighter (with some pretty significant things in

common with the  In order to learn more about the progress of the most interesting Chinese programs and assess the status of the emerging PLAN Naval Aviation  we asked expert analyst Andreas Rupprecht who edits the Modern Chinese Warplanes page on Facebook, has published a series of authoritative reference guides about Chinese military aircraft (and many others), and, above all, is considered an authority when it deals with Chinese military aviation.

Here are his responses to our questions.

 Q. Hi Andreas, first of all thank you for your time. Then, I would ask you what we know about this aircraft, what does the existence of 4 stealth jets in China (J-20A, B, FC-31 and J-35) mean in terms of progress in this field?

First, we know it is under development since several years and has its roots in the two SAC stealth technology demonstrators FC-31 no. 01 and 02 (aka 31001 & 31003). As such I expect a shorter overall time of flight testing even if the most interesting part of that story will be the cat-test and carrier qualifications up to operational readiness. Consequently, I think it is safe to assume that stealth technology is no longer a stranger in China – just look in parallel to the J-20B twin-seater and the just recently unveiled “strange thing” at CAC, which eventually could be a configuration related to the 6th generation fighter – , the only question is how stealthy are these new fighters, how capable and integrated is their sensor system and to what extent they are indeed capable of network-centric warfare?

Also unknown is how mature is their sensor fusion and to what extent the term joint is really joint within the PLA? And finally, since the J-35 – or whatever its designation may be – is still relaying on interim engines, there remains the engine issue. And concerning stealth and China, the true mystery still remains the H-20 bomber.