J-35B Key Points and Summary – New photos and state-media reports suggest China’s J-35B carrier-based stealth fighter has entered serial production and may already be in service with the PLAN.
-The aircraft, seen flying in formation with naval insignia, is “the carrier fighter that the Chinese have always needed,” designed to operate from the new Fujian aircraft carrier with its advanced electromagnetic catapults.
-This development, replacing the accident-prone J-15, signals a massive leap in China’s naval power projection and a direct challenge to the F-35’s dominance, creating a new high-low mix of fighters for its carrier air wings.
More Details Emerge on Shenyang J-35B
WARSAW, POLAND – Additional revelations have emerged about the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Shenyang J-35B carrier-capable fighter program.
Additional photos released provide the clearest view yet of details from the fifth-generation J-35B stealth fighter. This “B” configuration is the carrier version developed in parallel with the J-35A land-based aircraft.
Reports are that the J-35B will be deployed about the newest of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) aircraft carriers, the CV 18 Fujian. This ship is the first of the PLAN carriers to be built in the conventional flattop design similar to all US Navy carrier vessels.
It is also the first carrier to be equipped with an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System (EMALS), allowing it to launch aircraft.
The EMALS is an essential addition to the PLAN’s carrier air wing for the simple reason that it provides the extra take-off speed on launch for heavier fighters to get off the deck and rotate up.
The two previous carriers in the fleet, the CV-16 Liaoning and CV-17 Shandong, were built with a ski-ramp flight deck with no catapult-assisted take-off possible.
This limited the weapons and/or fuel loads of any aircraft launching from these vessels
What Makes the J-35B Special
J-35B promises to be, in the words of a US aircraft carrier design engineer, “the carrier fighter that the Chinese have always needed.”
For years there have been reports of mechanical failures and crashes of the J-15 in carrier operations, which was one of the prime requirements driving the J-35B’s development.
“One of the reasons the US Navy retired the famous F-14 Tomcat was that it was so heavy. It could only operate from the larger carriers and required tremendous power to get off the deck,” he said. “The J-15 , which the J-35B is replacing, is – according to all of the publicly-available date – even heavier and not suited for the current, modern naval aviation age.”
Flight and Sea Trial Testing
The photos seen most recently not only show the details of the J-35B, but also of more than one of the aircraft operating in close proximity – demonstrating a nearly formation-flying style.
This, along with other details visible on the aircraft itself, provides a clear indication that the plane has entered series production.
Another sign of the aircraft’s production status, says one China aviation specialist, Song Zhongping, a former People’s Liberation Army (PLA) instructor, is that the latest images show what he calls “air-to-air studies in tight formation.”
This is typical of the modes of flight evaluation maneuvers that would be performed to develop operational procedures to be instituted once enough of the series-manufactured aeroplanes are available to begin deployments at sea.
The same images, which initially began circulating on China’s Weibo platform, show the aircraft sporting “Chinese navy” markings on their fuselages in addition to the “Flying Shark” insignia already seen before painted on their tails.
“The Flying Shark insignia confirms the J-35 has joined the navy’s carrier aviation force,” said Song. “It indicates the aircraft may have been in active service and is building combat and logistical support capabilities.”
Operations and Signatures
In other reports from PRC state-run media, the J-35 is said to be operating in tandem with the J-15T fighter. This appears to be the PLAN’s attempt at a high-low mix of fighter aircraft aboard the Fujian and other carriers of the same class.
The two types of aircraft would be assigned specific, yet complementary, combat roles and present a “balanced” carrier-based naval aviation force structure.
The missions for the J-35B will be those that demand an aircraft with a low radar cross section (RCS), which is far lower than the 1980s-design the J-15 is based on, but is still estimated to be larger than that of the F-35.
One intelligence estimate is projecting the J-35’s RCS at close to 0.01 m² in the frontal hemisphere, whereas the F-35’s all-around signature is much lower – rated at 0.001–0.005 m².
J-35’s two engines are also set apart in a separate arrangement beneath the tail. This contrasts with the two engines mounted in a side-by-side, centreline arrangement of the US F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
This configuration would potentially reduce the aircraft’s infra-red signature due to the two heat plumes being well apart from one another.
What Happens Next?
Once delivered to the PLAN AF in sufficient numbers, the J-35B is expected to engage in extensive land-based training exercises before it is fully deployed aboard the Fujian.
In the long term, the aircraft is expected to be the primary fighter jet aboard this newer and more advanced carrier.
The Fujian has already undergone eight sea trials and has been projected to enter service with the PLAN before the end of the year.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
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JC
July 24, 2025 at 3:09 am
This is a lie. china doesn’t have anything 5th gen aside from shape, which they stole.