Photos of the maiden flight of a green-skinned J-31 improved fighter – allegedly J-35 – spread on the Internet on Oct. 29. And in the afternoon of Oct. 28, Beijing time, the Chinese Internet had already been abuzz with rumors that the J-35 was about to make its maiden flight.
The photos show that the aircraft has independent flaps and ailerons on the folding wings, with the general characteristics of a carrier-capable naval aircraft. J-35 is believed to be on board China’s Type 003 aircraft carrier.
It is understood that the J-31, which has a conventional aerodynamic layout with DSI intakes, trapezoidal main wings, tilted double droop tail and built-in bomb bay, as well as the characteristics of a typical stealth fighter with low detectability and therefore high survivability, has Sun Cong as its chief designer, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and deputy chief engineer of AVIC.
In addition, the fighter has excellent electronic countermeasure performance, and can accomplish target detection, integrated external information processing and multi-objective over-the-horizon large off-axis angle omnidirectional attack, etc. It has a high cost performance ratio.
The J-31 fighter will use two newly developed high-performance small culvert ratio turbofan engines as the propulsion system and assemble an aerial gun, with strong internal and external attachment capabilities, and can mount a variety of advanced air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.
Notably, the J-31 was once again on display at the 13th Zhuhai Airshow in 2021, and this time, it was also displayed alongside the powerful PL-15E missile.
The J-35 stealth fighter and airborne weaponry are top-notch, and their pairing will make the combat force even more powerful and among the world’s best, according to Chinese media, citing the Indian Defense News website in this regard.