The first high-resolution image of the Shenyang J-35, China's first 5th generation naval fighter, circulates through social media. The jet is still being tested and made its first flight in October last year.
The image was released through Weibo, a Chinese social network, and shows technicians working around the stealth fighter, with a group sitting next to the right landing gear.
Wow 😮 … what a pleasant surprise, not only a confirmation of the J-35's third prototype – actually the second flying one – numbered 350003, but also the so far clearest image we got of the J-35 at all.
(Image via @鼎盛风清 from Weibo) pic.twitter.com/gyR2mejJjM
- @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) July 22, 2022
The aircraft bears the registration number 350003, indicating that it is the third prototype of the J-35, the second for flight tests according to Chinese military aircraft specialist Andreas Rupprecht. The canopy opens forward, as on the US F-35, and the plane already has serrated engine nozzles, a common treatment on stealth planes.
The J-35 was seen and identified as a naval fighter for the first time in late October 2021. At the time, the jet was only painted with primer and flew with a J-16, the Chinese version of the Sukhoi Su-30.
The model is the third evolution in the design of the FC-31 (initially called the J-31), China's second stealth fighter, whose first prototype flew in October 2012. This first prototype also had a design that was very reminiscent of the F- 22 and the F-35, something that was modified in the second version, which made its first flight in December 2016.
The J-35 will be one of the planes of the air group embarked from the new Chinese aircraft carrier, the Type 003 Fujian, launched overboard in June. The aircraft will operate alongside the well-known J-15 Flying Shark, a copy of the Russian Su-33, and the KJ-600, a radar plane that has enormous similarities with the North American E-2 Hawkeye.
Currently only the US Navy operates stealth fighters on its aircraft carriers, in the form of the F-35C Lightning II, as well as the F-35B VSTOL, used on the amphibious landing craft.
