China’s J-35A: The Stealth Jet That Hunts Stealth!
By :SpaceEyeNews.
A New Generation of Air Dominance Begins
China’s newest stealth aircraft, the J-35A, didn’t just debut at the 2024 Zhuhai Airshow to dazzle crowds. It was unveiled to deliver a message: the rules of aerial warfare are changing—and China wants to write them.
Designed by AVIC/Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, the J-35A isn’t just a high-tech stealth jet. It’s a fighter built to detect, track, and neutralize enemy stealth aircraft, making it one of the first combat platforms explicitly engineered to break the advantage of traditional low-observable designs like the American F-35 or B-21 Raider.
This development isn’t only a technological feat—it’s a strategic maneuver that reflects China’s growing ambitions to dominate the skies both regionally and globally.
Strategic Role: Backbone of China’s Kill Chain
The J-35A is at the heart of China’s evolving concept of “kill chains”—a military framework where assets work together in real time to detect, track, engage, and destroy targets. According to Wang Yongqing, one of the lead aircraft designers at AVIC, the J-35A is optimized for “high-level threats,” specifically stealth aircraft and cruise missiles designed to bypass traditional defenses.
What makes the J-35A different isn’t just that it can fly stealthy—it can also see other stealth aircraft, coordinate with land and sea-based systems, and serve as a command-and-control relay in the sky. It can lock onto targets, share real-time position data with surface-to-air missile systems, and even guide those missiles to intercept targets.
This makes the J-35A a crucial element in extending the range and effectiveness of China’s broader air defense network. It no longer relies solely on static radars or missile sites; it now has a mobile, smart, stealth-enabled aircraft that can detect and direct fire at targets before they even reach China’s airspace.
The decision to make the J-35A a domestically focused asset—rather than marketing it primarily for export—reinforces its value as a national security cornerstone, not a commodity.
Stealth with a Twist: Built to See the Invisible
The J-35A’s greatest breakthrough may not be how invisible it is—but how clearly it can see the invisible.
While many fifth-generation fighters focus on radar cross-section reduction and electronic warfare countermeasures, the J-35A is equipped with a new generation of AI-enhanced sensors, passive detection systems, and radar data fusion capabilities. These technologies allow it to detect stealth aircraft, even those specifically engineered to evade conventional radars.
The aircraft draws from China’s earlier J-31/FC-31 “Gyrfalcon” lineage but adds a leap in performance and capability. Where the FC-31 was a prototype with export potential, the J-35A has matured into an operational-ready jet that will fly from airbases and future aircraft carriers alike. Its sleek design, internal weapons bay, and next-gen infrared search and track (IRST) system enable it to remain low-profile while hunting other aircraft across long distances.
Wang Yongqing noted that adversaries like the U.S. are deploying aircraft with advanced sensor ranges that can detect Chinese forces from hundreds of kilometers away—long before China’s traditional systems can respond. That imbalance is what the J-35A is designed to counter.
Now, instead of relying solely on early warning radars or missile shields, the PLAAF can deploy a mobile unit that functions as an early detector, data coordinator, and attacker all in one platform.
Scalable Power: Mass Production and Fleet Expansion
One of the most striking things about the J-35A is not just what it can do—but how many of them China may eventually build.
Unlike the American F-22 Raptor, which was limited to under 200 units due to cost overruns and political decisions, the J-35A is intended to be mass produced. Wang and Chinese military sources have openly stated the J-35A was designed with cost-effective production in mind, leveraging modular design and manufacturing advances that will allow large-scale deployment across the country.
This production model reflects a deliberate strategy: not just to build a “silver bullet” aircraft for elite operations, but to make the J-35A a standard frontline fighter in both the PLAAF and potentially the PLA Navy. A carrier-capable version is already in development, expected to operate from China’s Fujian-class Type 003 supercarrier, which itself represents a massive shift in China’s naval doctrine toward power projection.
By investing in mass deployment of a highly capable stealth fighter, China signals its intent to maintain a persistent stealth presence in contested airspaces—be it over the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, or beyond.
This approach marks a significant contrast with Western stealth programs, which often trade numbers for exclusivity and price per unit. China’s move with the J-35A appears to be about achieving both technological edge and numerical advantage—a difficult combination to beat.
Why the World Should Pay Attention
The J-35A doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It was revealed in a moment of mounting military tension in the Indo-Pacific, as the U.S. and its allies ramp up efforts to deter China through joint exercises, new military pacts, and next-generation aircraft programs.
The B-21 Raider, the F-47, and the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) being developed by the UK, Japan, and Italy are all designed with stealth, multi-domain operation, and survivability in mind. But China’s J-35A throws a curveball: a stealth aircraft built to detect and defeat other stealth assets.
This shifts the traditional airpower equation. In the past, stealth was about first-look, first-shot, first-kill advantages. Now, with platforms like the J-35A entering the field, air forces will need to consider counter-stealth operations just as seriously as stealth penetration.
From a strategic perspective, the J-35A also challenges Western assumptions about China’s technological ceiling. It signals that China is not only catching up—it may be leapfrogging in certain areas, particularly in sensor fusion, AI-integration, and airborne network coordination.
For policymakers and analysts, the key takeaway isn’t just the J-35A’s specs—it’s the ecosystem it fits into. A world where China fields hundreds of networked stealth fighters, each capable of functioning as an autonomous sensor node, dramatically raises the stakes in any future conflict over air supremacy.
Conclusion: A Jet That Redefines the Stealth Game
The J-35A is more than just China’s newest jet. It’s a turning point in the evolution of stealth warfare.
From its role in integrated kill chains, to its AI-driven counter-stealth capabilities, and its scalable design aimed at broad deployment, the J-35A reflects a future where aircraft don’t just hide from radar—they seek out others who do.
As the PLAAF moves toward greater modernization and battlefield cohesion, and as China’s defense strategy grows more assertive, the J-35A becomes a critical piece in a much larger puzzle.
It’s no longer about who vanishes first on radar—it’s about who sees through the shadows and strikes first. And right now, China’s J-35A may be that aircraft.
References:
https://interestingengineering.com/military/china-hypersonic-missile-gets-mach-20-speed
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