Chinese sources have confirmed that the country’s most advanced stealth fighter will be deployed on aircraft carriers, teaming up with another shipborne jet to promote joint operations.
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Sun Cong, a senior aviation engineer with state-run aerospace giant Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), told Chinese news outlet The Paper that “both the J-15 and J-35 aircraft will be deployed on aircraft carriers”.
The J-35 is China’s latest fifth-generation fighter while the J-15 – of which Sun is the chief designer – is a jet already deployed on the Chinese aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong.
Sun made the announcement at the Zhuhai air show, where a model of the J-35 – also known as the J-31 or the FC-31 Gyrfalcon – was on display alongside a J-15 at AVIC’s “maritime missions” booth.
The J-35 was developed by AVIC subsidiary Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and is China’s second fifth-generation fighter jet after the J-20.
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While smaller than the J-20s, the J-35 fighter jets reportedly have more advanced stealth technology and avionics, and are equipped with various types of weapons, such as medium-range air-to-air missiles and supersonic air-to-surface missiles.