• Source:JND
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China's premier aerospace exhibition, the ongoing 2024 Zhuhai Air Show saw the country’s second fifth-generation stealth fighter jet. The Shenyang J-35 stealth fighter is a twin-engine, single-seater supersonic jet developed for multirole missions. J-35 is the second fifth-generation fighter China has developed after the J-20. The aircraft, which shares similarities with the US Lockheed Martin F-35, is set to become a cornerstone of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

China is known for copying the design of several aircraft - The J-20 and the US F-22 Raptor are similar in design except for canards that are present in J-20, and the Chengdu J-10 also known as the "Vigorous Dragon" is similar to the US F-16. The J-35 is reportedly a lighter version of the J-20. However, the combat capabilities of both aircraft remain unknown. The development of the J-35 fighter jet suggests that China is mirroring the US and aims to combat the latter in the Indo-Pacific. The inclusion in the air show suggests that J-35 is ready for deployment.

"The aircraft could enhance the country's integrated combat capabilities,” said Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party.

"J-35A functions within both stealth and counter-stealth combat frameworks. Its mission focuses on gaining and maintaining air superiority, eliminating hostile fourth/fifth generation fighter jets and ground/surface air defence forces, as well as intercepting aerial hostile targets including fighters, bombers and cruise missiles," it said.

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'One Aircraft, Multiple Roles'

China plans to induct the aircraft into the Air Force and the Navy, similar to the US F-35 which has three variants - The F-35A for the Air Force, F-35B for the Marine Corps and F-35C for the US Navy.

The F-35A can take off from an Air Force runway, the F-35B can hover and vertically land on amphibious attack ships of the Marine Corps and the F-35C, with a wide wingspan, is used for aircraft carrier landings by the US Navy.

Earlier this year, China's largest and heaviest aircraft carrier, Fujian, was out for sea trials. The conventionally powered aircraft carrier weighs over 80,000 tons and has the most potent aircraft launch system - EMALS or Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, which currently only the US operates on the USS Gerald R Ford, the world's largest operational aircraft carrier.

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The US Department of Defence in a report on China's naval modernization and its implications, said "China may be developing a carrier-capable variant of its FC-31/J-31 fifth-generation stealth fighter to complement or succeed the J-15 on catapult-equipped PLA carriers. China reportedly is also developing a carrier-based airborne early warning (NAEW) aircraft, called the KJ-600, that is similar to the U.S. Navy's carrier-based E-2 Hawkeye AEW aircraft,82 and stealth drone aircraft."