Key Points and Summary on J-35: New, unusually clear and high-resolution photos of China’s next-generation carrier-based stealth fighter, the Shenyang J-35, have emerged online, likely as part of a deliberate messaging campaign by Beijing.
-The images show two prototypes flying in close formation, equipped with flight test instrumentation and features designed to enhance stealth, such as “sawtooth” engine nozzles.
-The aircraft are also fitted with Luneburg lens radar reflectors, likely to conceal their true radar cross-section during tests. The release of these photos is suspected to be a prelude to the J-35B’s public debut at the upcoming September 3rd military parade in Beijing.
The J-35 Stealth Fighter from China Breaks Cover
Recently-seen photos of the Shenyang J-35, the People’s Republic of China’s next-generation carrier-based fighter, reveal some details about the program not previously detected in other images.
The aircraft, which has been under development for at least 13 years, has been designed by the Northern China-based design and production center in both land-based (CTOL) and carrier-capable (CV) versions.
These latest J-35 photos have made the same roundabout journey to the open-source sites on the internet as most other PRC military aircraft images.
Official photographers typically take the pictures for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) or the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
One of these—or another official agency with the authorization to release what in the Chinese system would have almost certainly been a classified photo—then “accidentally” made sure that the image appears on one of the PRC’s many military aircraft enthusiast sites.
This manner of exposés of developments in the PRC’s military aircraft sector is consistent with Chinese practice. These revelations are only permitted when they serve to augment a larger messaging campaign or if they advance some internal political agenda within the PLA or the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Unusual Level of Detail
What appears to be at work here is larger than just someone within the PLA wanting to advance the fortunes of this one program.
Supporting this theory is the fact that “illegal,” unauthorized images of Chinese military aircraft being revealed for the first time tend to be blurred or with specific details photoshopped out of the picture.
Instead, these J-35 shots are crystal clear, unaltered, and of unusually high quality and resolution. What these images provide is a rare look inside the development of this aircraft, demonstrating just how the PRC’s current stealth designs are put through their paces.
Specifically, the two prototype J-35s are equipped with special instrumentation, most likely used for testing the aircraft’s aerodynamic qualities and the effectiveness of its flight control system. The aircraft also appears to be fitted with a working radar set inside its radome, indicating the flight test program is likely well advanced.
Several details of these aircraft indicate that the Shenyang design team is focusing on the aircraft’s radar cross section (RCS) and taking great pains to ensure that stealthy properties are maintained during operation.
J-35: Preserving Stealth Design
Experts in the United States who study stealth design methods have criticized the latest Russian and Chinese designs for lacking workmanship and for their unblemished surface characteristics. Photos released in April of another stealthy Chinese design, the Chengdu J-20, revealed exposed rivets and ill-fitting panel lines.
These are the types of imperfections that degrade a low cross-section design, raising questions about whether Chengdu’s competitors in Shenyang are also experiencing similar quality control problems. However, the recent J-35 images appear to show a smooth surface with precision-fitting sections.
Both prototypes are also fitted with an externally mounted Luneburg lens (radar reflector). This type of appendage is sometimes also used on US stealth aircraft, such as the F-22.
According to a lengthy article about the device, “a Luneburg lens is used in radar systems to enhance radar reflectivity and improve signal reception without requiring additional energy. It is named after the German mathematician Rudolf Luneburg, who first described the lens in 1944.”
This system is likely being used with the J-35s to conceal the true extent of its stealth properties. This would at least partly explain why whoever took these photos was allowed to get close enough to capture the level of detail seen in them.
Lastly, the aircraft’s engines, the supposedly locally-produced Chinese WS-13E, are sporting “sawtooth” exhaust nozzles—a design technique used to decrease RCS in the rear hemisphere of the aircraft.
Stealth Mystery: Why Are We Seeing These Now? A Message to U.S. Military
Returning to the question of why these images of the J-35 and those of so many other PRC military aircraft are being released now.
The suspicion is that this has something to do with the September 3 military parade in Beijing, commemorating the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in WWII.
Taking a page from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Moscow parade, the CCP is planning to make this one an extravaganza. It will employ the celebration of defeating Japan in the war to legitimize the ruling order in Beijing in the same way that Putin uses his Red Square May 9 Victory Parade.
The other reason is that the J-35 is likely to be in the parade’s flyover. The parade may be about victory in the war, but the message being sent to the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan is “we have a new generation of carrier air power—and we can use it against you if we feel the need to do so.”
About the Author:
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs and Director of the Asian Research Centre with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.\
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