By Gerry Doyle
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – China’s much-anticipated J-35A stealth jet, the centerpiece of this week’s Zhuhai air show, has been in the works for more than a decade, but experts say little is known about its capabilities.
The first public appearance of the ground-based J-35A will take place on Tuesday, a day after the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), and will include a flight demonstration. Another variant, the J-35, is designed for use with Chinese aircraft carriers.
Although it takes flight more than 10 years after its ancestor, the J-31, made its first flight, few details are public about the J-35’s performance or stealth, according to military analysts.
“Due to the black box that typically surrounds PLA miltech developments, we won’t be too certain about the J-35’s performance,” said Collin Koh of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
“PRC scientists…have conducted various STEM studies and advances related to fighter jet technology, including stealth, over the years, so I suggest not joining the skeptics in dismissing any the plane,” Koh said.
The J-35 and J-35A are designed and built by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, a unit of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China. People’s Daily, a state-controlled news outlet, said before the air show that the J-35A “primarily performs the task of seizing and maintaining air supremacy.”
Both variants of the J-35 are considerably smaller than China’s other stealth aircraft, the J-20 land-based fighter. An estimated 200 J-20s are operational with the PLAAF.
The J-35A is superficially similar to the Lockheed Martin F-35, whose shape – from fuselage to control surfaces – is designed to minimize its size on radar. It is not publicly known whether J-35 models have special radar-absorbing coatings, as the F-35 does, or whether communications and radar systems are difficult to detect.
China has struggled to design high-performance turbofan engines, relying on Russian technology for early versions of its domestic fighters.
But the J-31 used Chinese-designed WS-13 engines and the J-35A could be equipped with the more advanced WS-19, analysts say, which is potentially up to 10% more powerful.
Engine technology is essential for advanced fighters because efficiency means greater range, the ability to carry more equipment and weapons, and higher speeds.
“I’m never too sure of much except the shape of the airframe at these airshows,” said Peter Layton, a defense and aviation expert at the Griffith Asia Institute. “The engines used are always a question.”
Foreign military attachés and security analysts are closely monitoring the evolution of J-35 variants, given their importance to Beijing’s aircraft carrier program.
Although China’s three aircraft carriers remain in training and development mode and have yet to stage long-range operations beyond East Asia, a successful J-35 variant is expected to be an element key to the PLA Navy’s ability to project power beyond its home waters. years to come.
The six-day China International Aviation and Aerospace Expo will be held in Zhuhai from November 12 to 17.
(Reporting by Gerry Doyle in Singapore; additional reporting by Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Sophie Yu in Zhuhai; editing by Nicholas Yong and Tom Hogue)
