The 2024 Zhuhai Airshow presented a deluge of aircraft, drones, munitions, and systems, including displays of hardware in service with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and PLA Air Force (PLAAF) or soon to enter service. The new J-35A – a stealthy fifth-generation fighter – was most widely covered.
The revelation of J-35A being intended for service in the PLAAF coincided with the Air Force’s 75th anniversary, and multiple different prototype airframes were flown over multiple days at Zhuhai. Subsequent coverage in official state media and on social networks followed, essentially “declassifying” the J-35A, as PLA norms go. At present, the J-35A has yet to enter frontline service.
The J-35A is an aircraft simultaneously both recent in entering the rumor cycle and long expected. This piece will review the background of the J-35A, and assess its characteristics and the rationale for its procurement.
From FC-31 to J-35A
In past articles, I’ve covered the aircraft types that preceded the J-35A. First, there was the original FC-31 developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) as a technology demonstrator and potential export product, albeit without any PLA commitment at that time. Two flying prototypes and multiple static prototypes were developed, with the two differing prototypes flying in 2012 and 2016. During this time, the FC-31 was sometimes called the “J-31,” but the name was not official given the lack of PLA commitment.
In the mid-to-late 2010s, concrete rumors emerged that the FC-31 had been chosen by the PLA Navy (PLAN) to be developed into a carrierborne fifth generation fighter, with the possible name “J-35.” In October 2021, the first prototype of the J-35 flew, with pictures confirming traits of a carrierborne fighter such as an enlarged folding wing, reinforced landing gear, and a catapult launch bar, as well as other refinements such as an enlarged dorsal fuselage hump and a more complex sensor fitout.
Starting from 2021, rumors emerged that the PLAAF was also interested in pursuing a land-based, “de-navalized” version of the J-35. Over the last couple of years, such rumors began to spread with greater intensity. In 2023, photos emerged of one or more prototypes of an aircraft appearing similar to the J-35 but with a reduced wingspan, consistent with features expected of an air force variant. However the designation of the PLAAF’s variant was still not known.
With Zhuhai Airshow 2024 and the PLAAF’s 75th anniversary, the fighter’s name has now been confirmed as J-35A. (It is unknown what the official name of PLAN’s carrierborne variant will be, but I will continue to use “J-35” until new indicators emerge.)
The J-35A/J-35/FC-31 lineage had a developmental course that is both protracted and short – protracted if one measures from the FC-31 technology demonstrator first flying in 2012, without PLA interest, and short if one measures from the carrierborne J-35 first flying in late 2021.
This family of aircraft has been dogged by commentary emphasizing its resemblance to the United States’ F-35 family of aircraft, with both being fifth-generation, medium-sized fighters with similar wing and tail configurations and dual side air intakes. These similarities have been emphasized in the context of the Chinese cyberespionage operations that reportedly stole data on the F-35. However, the emergence of multiple other aircraft with similar configurations (the twin engine KF-21 and AMCA, in particular) may reflect a convergence of form due to pursuit of similar functions in context of desiring mature aerodynamic configurations.
