The competition with China increases and a lot of it is focused on airpower and developing the platforms and technology that will prevail in a potential conflict.
This month, China officially unveiled the nation’s second domestically developed 5th-generation fighter, known officially as the J-35. This new twin-engine stealth fighter, which comes in both runway and carrier-capable variants, is meant to bolster China’s rapidly expanding fleets of larger J-20 stealth fighters, and maybe even to end America’s global monopoly on exporting stealth aircraft.
China is already flying the J-20, and the addition of the J-35 aims to expand its airpower capabilities. However, the development of the two stealth fighter jets doesn’t say a lot about Chinese ingenuity and aerospace capabilities. If you look closely, you will see that the J-20 resembles the F-22 Raptor a lot, and the J-35 is fiendishly similar to the F-35. China, after all, has a proven tract record of stealing from other countries are replicating their works.
“These new stealth fighter jets can give China a massive boost and power projection capabilities in the Pacific as they are designed to operate off of the nation’s forthcoming catapult-equipped class 003 supercarriers, dramatically complicating the combat calculus for American planners focused on deterring Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and beyond,” Alex Hollings, Sandboxx News’ Editor-in-Chief and host of AirPower, said in a recent video.
To learn more about the J-35 and its capabilities, make sure to watch our video above.
Feature Image: The J-35A at the Zhuhai Airshow 2024. (China News Service)