China's J-35 Naval Stealth Fighter Seen Like Never Before

Yahoo

21-06-2025

A new photo provides our best view so far of the Shenyang J-35, China's next-generation carrier-based fighter. It's part of a relative flurry of imagery showing some of China's latest military aircraft in unusual detail. In sharp contrast to the blurry or heavily edited shots we have become familiar with out of China in the past, these various high-quality images provide a fascinating snapshot of the breadth of developments taking place right now in China's military aerospace realm.
3501 + 3506. pic.twitter.com/1KxgpYd7vO
— Stray Helium ◂Ⓘ▸ (@Alfa_Particle) June 19, 2025
The J-35 photo at the top of this story began to circulate recently on social media and, since it's an air-to-air study, almost certainly originates from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) or another official Chinese state source. In it, we see two prototype J-35s in close formation. Of these, serial 3501 is fitted with a pitot boom for flight tests, while serial 3506 appears to be completed to something closer to a production standard, with its radome likely housing a radar.
Great side-by-side comparison of the PLAAF J-20 and the PLAN Naval Aviation J-35.(Via @兰墨飞花_星海入梦日出烟燧 from Weibo) pic.twitter.com/F99F1dJGCn
— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) June 19, 2025
As we have noted before, the overall external finish of the J-35 is notably smooth, in line with its low-observable requirements. However, both jets sport a ventral bolt-on Luneburg lens (radar reflector). This is customary on stealth fighters when low observability is not required, when it can pose a challenge for flying in dense airspace, or when masking the aircraft's true signature from foreign intelligence.
Meanwhile, another pair of photos of serial 3506, which are of somewhat lower quality, are nonetheless very interesting. Seen from the rear aspect, they provide a better look at the engines, thought to be locally produced WS-13E turbofans, which have distinctive 'serrated' nozzles. Based on this same image, there's been speculation that it might show a cannon port, above the left-hand air intake. If that's correct, it would be the first indication that the J-35 has an internal gun, a feature that has been notably troublesome in the F-35, which the Chinese jet is often described in the mainstream press as being a copy of.
J-35 stealth carrier fighter (prototype 3506) possibly with serrated WS-13/E turbofan engines. It was seen flying alongside a group of J-15 fighters.What is most interesting is what appears to be a gun-port for autocannons (2nd image), which is the small protrusion above the air… pic.twitter.com/gWtUWPwdrC
— Eurasia Naval Insight (@EurasiaNaval) June 18, 2025
Not evident in this view, of course, are the various advanced sensors and weapons that the J-35 is expected to feature, including an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
A navalized variant of the land-based FC-31, the first flying J-35 prototype made its initial flight, at least that we know of, in October 2021, sporting a blue-green primer finish and wearing the serial 3501. The second known flying J-35 prototype, serial 3503, was subsequently spotted in July of 2022 with a low-visibility gray tactical paint scheme. There was speculation that a third was pictured in flight in September 2023, although, as we noted at the time, the quality of the imagery made it difficult to ascertain whether the aircraft was indeed a navalized J-35 or a land-based FC-31 variant.
Since then, we've had growing indications that the J-35 might eventually operate from the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN) two in-service carriers, the Type 001 Liaoning and the Type 002 Shandong, as well as future carriers fitted with catapults and arrestor gear, including the Type 003 Fujian, which is now undergoing pre-service trials.
Late last year, China publicly unveiled the J-35A, a land-based stealth fighter version of the FC-31/J-35 that has been under development for some time and which you can read about in more detail here.
There is also growing speculation that Pakistan will become the first export recipient of the J-35 (likely under the FC-31 export designation). In early 2024, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) boss, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Sidhu, stated the service was planning to buy the stealth fighters, as we discussed at the time. Earlier this month, Pakistan's government stated on X that the country had been offered '40 fifth-generation Shenyang J-35 stealth aircraft, Shaanxi KJ-500 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C), and HQ-19 air defense systems from China,' according to an online translation.
As well as the new J-35 photos, a number of new images have recently appeared showing another aircraft set to be a critical component of China's future carrier air wings. This is the KJ-600 carrier-based airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, a type we have also profiled in depth in the past.
New photos of the KJ-600 in the air provide us with our best look at this aircraft, too, including its close similarity with the E-2 Hawkeye, which fulfills the same role aboard U.S. Navy carriers.
KJ-600 AEW&C https://t.co/aXTne1Bc0K pic.twitter.com/8qRBAwaPEo
— David Wang (@Nickatgreat1220) June 20, 2025
諾斯羅普格魯曼：法官大人，我指控中國人像素級抄襲了我們的E-2預警機西飛工業集團：我認罪 pic.twitter.com/Wsf8U9GHie
—
飞刀
(@chaoyinsukandao) June 20, 2025
The KJ-600 initially began flight trials in the fall of 2020 and is being developed by the Xi'an Aircraft Company. Once integrated aboard the Fujian (and likely other PLAN carriers that will follow that warship), the radar plane will bring some significant benefits to the wider PLAN, as we described in the past:
'In terms of the role that the KJ-600 will play in the air wing that the PLAN appears to be assembling for its newest Fujian aircraft carrier, it will be tasked with extending the carrier's radar range dramatically, especially when it comes to spotting low-flying objects or even surface contacts, similar to how the E-2 operates. This is on top of working as a battlespace manager. Controllers onboard will vector aircraft as needed and work as central command and control and battlespace awareness elements for highly coordinated missions. The KJ-600's radar picture and other passive sensor systems' data will be linked back to the carrier group and to other tactical aircraft for real-time exploitation. Working as a central data-fusion and rebroadcasting node is also a good possibility.'
There's another new Chinese type that we have gotten our best look at so far, also an AEW&C platform, in this case, the land-based KJ-3000.
Wow
what a start for the weekend: The so far clearest image of the new KJ-3000 AEW.(Image via Mike / @MIKE76665355725) pic.twitter.com/uMapFzEeF9
— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) June 20, 2025
The first, low-quality photos of the KJ-3000 began to appear last December, as we reported at the time. Based on the four-jet Y-20 cargo plane, the KJ-3000 is part of a fast-expanding and diversifying fleet of Chinese AEW&C aircraft, which also includes multiple iterations based on the four-turboprop Y-9 series of airlifters. The KJ-3000 falls into the 'heavyweight' category and is expected to supplement — and eventually replace entirely — the KJ-2000 Mainring, which is, to date, China's largest dedicated AEW&C aircraft. You can read about it and China's wider AEW&C developments in this previous in-depth article.
Finally, there is also some impressive new imagery of some better-established Chinese military aircraft. The photos embedded in the tweet below provide some very good views of the J-20 stealth fighter, the J-15T carrier-based fighter, the H-6N missile carrier, and the Y-9FQ anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
9.3閲兵訓練J-20、J-15T、H-6N、Y-9FQ etc……(photo by 欧阳潼舢:Canon EOS R5II+RF1200/8) pic.twitter.com/vIvFIeF9NJ
— お砂糖wsnbn (@sugar_wsnbn) June 17, 2025
Whether or not the appearance of these photos is indicative of a new degree of openness in China is doubtful. On the other hand, Beijing clearly has a desire to publicize recent military achievements, at least where this is deemed appropriate or advantageous. Regardless, the imagery certainly underscores the dramatic progress being made in Chinese military aviation.
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