The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force is set to officially debut its new stealth fighter jet, the J-35A, giving observers the first look at a highly anticipated asset that could make China the second country after the U.S. to have two types of stealth fighter jets.
The fighter, an image of which was released during an air force press conference Tuesday, will take part in the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, set for Nov 12-17 in the southern city of Zhuhai.
The J-35A is a mid-size stealth combat plane with multiple roles. Upon its commissioning, China will become the second nation after the United States to have two types of stealth fighter jets in active service.
Currently, the PLA Air Force has deployed a large fleet of J-20 heavy-duty stealth combat aircraft, which started to be commissioned in late 2016.
According to the Aviation Industry Corp of China, which is the country's dominant aircraft maker, the J-35A symbolizes a new milestone in the state-owned conglomerate's endeavor to improve the PLA's arsenal and support its integrated joint combat system.
The new fifth-generation fighter jet was designed by the aircraft maker's Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute and will be used primarily to carry out air combat. The plane can also conduct strikes against targets on land and at sea, the company said.
Defense industry observers said in the future, the J-35A will fight side by side with the J-20 to help secure air superiority.
"The J-20 is a heavy-duty stealth fighter, while the J-35A is a mid-size stealth combat plane with multiple roles. Therefore, the difference between them is that the J-20 is mainly used for air superiority combat missions, while the J-35 is mainly responsible for multiple tasks. For example, it can perform air superiority combat missions, as well as ground and sea assault missions. It can perform a variety of tasks. Therefore, in the future, the J-20 and J-35 can carry out joint operations to seize air superiority and precise strikes on ground or sea targets. A combination of the two will play a very important role in securing air superiority," said Wang Mingzhi, a military expert.
Observers said the J-35 is likely to be designed as a series and may also be used as carrier-based aircraft in the future, which would greatly improve the overall strength of China's sea and air combat.
"The commissioning of stealth aircraft to the air force's equipment series indicates that the Chinese air force's main equipment has further shifted to stealth at a fast pace. In the future warfare, there may be a variety of mission combination modes, including a combination of stealth fighter jets. For example, the J-20 will fight with the J-35 to perform corresponding combat missions. Meanwhile, the J-20 or J-35 can also be combined with other non-stealth combat aircraft. In addition, there will be a very important form, that is, stealth fighters plus unmanned combat air vehicles. A combination of manned and unmanned air vehicles represents a very important development direction of air combat," said Wang.
Popularly known as the Zhuhai Airshow, the biennial event is the country's largest arms show and is recognized as one of the world's most significant defense exhibitions.
China becomes world's second country to have two types of stealth fighter jets: expert
