China tests next-gen fighter jet on carrier

China's next-generation carrier-borne fighter jet, dubbed the J-35 by military observers, has started trial operations on CNS Liaoning, an aircraft carrier of the People's Liberation Army Navy, according to China Central Television.

In a video clip published by the State broadcaster on Friday, Zhang Naigang, a senior noncommissioned officer on the Liaoning, said that "the new combat aircraft landed on the carrier as my service career has approached its end".

He told CCTV the new plane is "very beautiful", adding that the day was fine and clear when the jet arrived for its first landing and takeoff test on the Liaoning.

"It was basically like the day when the J-15 performed its first takeoff from the ship," Zhang recalled, referring to the Navy's current carrier-borne fighter jet.

He said that he witnessed the new jet's first takeoff from the Liaoning with excitement and pride. Zhang is the head of the takeoff section of the aircraft operations support department on the Liaoning.

While he did not mention any details about the new type of fighter jet and the tests that have been done on the carrier, his remarks confirmed the new aircraft's trial deployment on the Liaoning. The J-15 entered service more than a decade ago.

In February last year, the Navy released a video of a young naval pilot recruit from a carrier-borne aviation unit being ordered to undertake a new, challenging task and walking toward what appeared to be a stealth fighter jet.

To maintain secrecy, the presentation was blurred, but the stealth aircraft appeared to have a typical aerodynamic design and a characteristic only used on carrier-based planes — folding wings. Its appearance was quite different from that of the J-15, which has a conventional configuration.

Military observers have long been speculating about a new-generation carrier-borne combat plane, which they said has been given an official type designation of J-35.

Several pictures of a mid-sized stealth fighter jet circulating on Chinese weapons websites have reinforced assertions that the new plane is nearly ready for delivery.

Song Zhongping, a military affairs commentator and retired PLA officer, said that while the J-15, the first and only carrier-borne fighter jet deployed in China's carrier force, has good capabilities comparable to those of Russia's Su-33 and the United States' F/A-18 Hornet, it is not good enough to confront stealth aircraft, which will become a pillar of carrier fleets in the future. Therefore, China needs to develop a new type to handle challenges from neighboring navies equipped with such jets.

"Upon its deployment, the J-35 can team up with the J-15, like the combination of the United States'F/A-18 and the F-35," he said. "The J-35's biggest edge is the stealth capability and it also has strong combat capability in air and sea operations. The combination of J-15 and J-35 will enable each of them to give play to their advantages in operations, thus creating a safer shield to a carrier strike group."

Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said it is widely believed among observers that the new carrier-borne jet must have been modeled on the FC-31, the nation's second type of stealth combat aircraft designed by Aviation Industry Corp of China's Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute.

The FC-31 was unveiled in October 2012 when a first prototype made its maiden flight, becoming China's second 5th-generation fighter jet, following the J-20.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn