China Reveals Details About New Stealth Jet

A Chinese 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.

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.”