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Why the J-35 Gyrfalcon is crucial to China’s power projection on the high seas
The PLA’s second stealth warplane, touted as the military’s answer to the American F-35, made its debut this week
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Almost a decade has passed since the People’s Liberation Army pulled the trigger on President Xi Jinping’s plans for a massive overhaul of the world’s biggest military. In the third of a series on Chinese weapon systems, we look at the critical defence role the country’s next-generation stealth fighter jet will play.
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While Beijing has held repeated military drills around Taiwan against a backdrop of persistent tensions across the Taiwan Strait, Taipei has not reported any sightings of the J-20 – the first of mainland China’s fifth-generation stealth fighter jets.
However, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) did release video footage of a J-20 approaching the self-ruled island in May, raising the question of whether Taiwan was capable of detecting stealth fighters in any future contingencies across the Taiwan Strait, especially on the island’s strategically critical east side.
The same question looms after Beijing showcased its next fifth-generation stealth fighter jet at the Zhuhai air show this week.
The Gyrfalcon
The J-35, also known as the J-31 or the FC-31 Gyrfalcon – developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) – follows the J-20 as the second of China’s fifth-generation fighter jets and features a single-seat, twin-engine design with stealth capabilities, advanced manoeuvrability and a versatile payload.
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