Key Points and Summary – China’s J-35 naval stealth fighter achieved a significant milestone in September 2025 by successfully conducting catapult launches from the Fujian carrier, a capability that directly challenges the F-35’s monopoly.
-Despite this success, the J-35 is “promising, yet untested” and faces significant risks. In short, it can’t compete with the F-35 stealth fighter just yet.
J-35A Fighter at Le Bourget Air Show. Image Credit: Author/National Security Journal.
-Key concerns include the reliability of its new domestic engines, the unproven effectiveness of its avionics, and the immense difficulty of maintaining delicate stealth coatings in a harsh maritime environment.
-These challenges, along with navalization-related weight compromises, mean the J-35 still has much to prove.
China’s J-35 Fighter: Challenges Ahead
The J-35 is the first fifth-generation stealth fighter in service with the Chinese Navy. It was designed to operate on China’s newest Type 003 Fujian aircraft carrier as a multi-role fighter alongside the J-15.
The J-35 is a promising, yet untested platform that still has much to prove before it is ready to go up against the most advanced American fighters. Nevertheless, the development of the J-35 has sobering implications for the U.S. and its allies in the South China Sea and beyond.
China’s First Naval Stealth Fighter
To meet the rigors of deck operations, the J-35 incorporates structural and systems changes found in most navalized fighters.
The airframe is reinforced for arrested recoveries and catapult launches, landing gear is substantially strengthened to absorb the shock of carrier landings, and corrosion-resistant treatments are applied to combat the corrosive maritime environment.
J-35 Stealth Fighter from China. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Some structural compromises are likely as designers balance durability with the need to preserve aerodynamic performance and low-observable geometry.
The variant also includes carrier-specific systems, such as an arrestor hook and folding wings, to reduce the deck stowage footprint.
Adapting a stealthy airframe for the catapult environment entails significant redesign to accommodate the sudden-acceleration loads and thermal stresses associated with electromagnetic catapult launches, which, in turn, influence weight distribution, internal volume allocation, and maintenance access.
In September 2025, the J-35 was publicly shown conducting tests on the Type 003 Fujian for the first time.
The carrier successfully launched and recovered the stealth fighter, along with other aircraft, including the J-15 and the KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft.
This is a significant milestone for China, as until now, the F-35 has been the only carrier-capable stealth fighter.
The successful integration of the J-35 with the Type 003 directly challenges American air supremacy in contested regions of the South China Sea.
A Promising but Unproven Platform
The J-35 is a promising platform, but it still has yet to prove itself. In the past, China has struggled with domestic engine production and has suffered from unreliable engines.
Carrier operations demand engines that can tolerate repeated high-stress cycles, rapid throttle transients, and extended exposure to maritime conditions.
The choice and performance of the turbofans determine payload capacity, range, and sortie generation rates.
Suppose the engines do not meet expected thrust levels or reliability metrics. In that case, the J-35 will face operational compromises, such as reduced internal fuel carriage, smaller weapons loads, curtailed mission ranges, or more frequent maintenance, thereby minimizing fleet readiness.
J-35 Factory in China. Image Credit: CCTV Screenshot.
Engine shortfalls affect not only individual aircraft performance but also carrier air wing planning and the types of missions the platform can credibly undertake.
Additionally, China has touted the J-35’s avionics as among the most advanced in the world, but these systems have yet to prove themselves.
Modern fifth-generation fighters operate as sensor nodes within a broader distributed network, and the J-35 must be capable of fusing inputs from onboard radars, electro-optical systems, electronic warfare pods, and offboard sensors via secure datalinks.
Naval operations underscore the need for robust data exchange, as carrier strike groups rely on coordinated sensor-to-shooter loops that integrate airborne, shipboard, and space-based assets. Achieving reliable sensor fusion and secure, low-latency communications in contested electromagnetic environments is a complex software engineering challenge.
Moreover, the aircraft must maintain degraded-mode capabilities that allow it to operate and contribute to the network even if datalinks are jammed or partially disrupted.
The Challenges of Maintaining Stealth Fighters at Sea
Maintaining stealth fighters in maritime conditions is a persistent challenge. Salt spray, moisture, deck impacts, and the abrasion of flight operations accelerate the degradation of radar-absorbent materials and coatings. In carrier-based aviation, there is a fine line between weight and performance that must be balanced.
This is especially difficult with stealth fighters, which also need to maintain stealth features. If stealth cannot be sustained at sea without excessive downtime, the J-35’s advantage against modern sensors will be compromised.
Navalization tends to add weight through reinforcements, additional systems, and the corrosion protection needed for saltwater environments.
Weight growth erodes range, maneuverability, and fuel fraction, particularly affecting aircraft intended to operate from carriers, where internal fuel and payload margins are already tight.
These design compromises are unavoidable for marine aviation, which is much more physically demanding than land-based conditions. Compensating for weight with more powerful engines introduces its own challenges in engine development, cooling, and structural integration.
Delivering a sufficient number of aircraft to form effective carrier air wings depends on industrial capacity, supply chain resilience, and component maturity. Bottlenecks in engines, avionics, composite materials, or specialized coatings could constrain production and fielding. Establishing reliable maintenance depots, replacement parts stocks, and procedures for rapid at-sea repair are essential for achieving high sortie generation rates.
Without mature industrial and logistics ecosystems, the J-35 risk being fielded in limited numbers, which reduces its strategic impact.
In short: The J-35 holds great promise. And yet, at least for now, fighters like the F-35 look like the better bet in a shoot-out.
About the Author: Isaac Seitz
Isaac Seitz, a Defense Columnist, graduated from Patrick Henry College’s Strategic Intelligence and National Security program. He has also studied Russian at Middlebury Language Schools and has worked as an intelligence Analyst in the private sector.
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