Shenyang FC-31 demonstrators / J-35 naval fighter / J-35A land-based version

[alberchico]

Pakistan Begins Sending Pilots to China to Fly the 5th Gen FC-31 "Gyrfalcon" Fighter Jet

Earlier this year, the Pakistan Air Force hinted at its acquisition of the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, the FC-31 "Gyrfalcon," developed by China's Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.

defencesecurityasia.com

I wonder if theres any truth to this.

 

[flateric]

Anyone who has dealed with flight testing will say you that this is utterly BS

 

[siegecrossbow]

Pakistan Begins Sending Pilots to China to Fly the 5th Gen FC-31 "Gyrfalcon" Fighter Jet

Earlier this year, the Pakistan Air Force hinted at its acquisition of the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, the FC-31 "Gyrfalcon," developed by China's Shenyang Aircraft Corporation.

defencesecurityasia.com

I wonder if theres any truth to this.

Yes it is complete and utterly true. PAF, not PLAAF or PLANAF, will be the first operator of J-31/35 next month since AVIC has suspended any legit test flights for the four or five prototypes they have to prioritize and accommodate for PAF pilots.

 

[stealthflanker]

I wonder which Pakistani media ?. I hate this kind of reporting, especially nowadays. Why not give proper credit to the news they referenced.

 

[Deino]

View attachment 736530

I wonder which Pakistani media ?. I hate this kind of reporting, especially nowadays. Why not give proper credit to the news they referenced.

The problem is, it is indeed the official state-media, but as I already said so often: It is propaganda, a PR-stunt for the own uninformed - and mostly not interested on facts - masses!

But indeed, I know several of these guys all swearing "brother, I tell you" the first batch of J-31 will be handed over to Pakistan in late 2025!

 

[siegecrossbow]

The problem is, it is indeed the official state-media, but as I already said so often: It is propaganda, a PR-stunt for the own uninformed - and mostly not interested on facts - masses!

But indeed, I know several of these guys all swearing "brother, I tell you" the first batch of J-31 will be handed over to Pakistan in late 2025!

They never think about what happens when nothing happens by the predicted date…

Who am I kidding. No one has the attention span to keep up with all their drivels lmfao.

 

[sferrin]

 

[snne]

View attachment 737722

Isn't this an old photo?

 

[sferrin]

Isn't this an old photo?

No idea. Spotted it on Reddit. Hadn't seen it here so I posted it.

 

[snne]

No idea. Spotted it on Reddit. Hadn't seen it here so I posted it.

It was first posted on Sinodef on March 9/10. See this quote below as a reference, it was captured from the same photo that you've posted.

Luneburg lens attached. It is very close to production.

View attachment 722005

P.S. Reddit is not a credible source of information, especially when it comes to what America's adversaries or frenemies do.

 

[sferrin]

It was first posted on Sinodef on March 9/10. See this quote below as a reference, it was captured from the same photo that you've posted.




P.S. Reddit is not a credible source of information, especially when it comes to what America's adversaries or frenemies do.

A photo is a photo. Could it be photoshopped? Sure. Could it also be completely legitimate? Yep. Choose what you want to believe.

 

[snne]

A photo is a photo. Could it be photoshopped? Sure. Could it also be completely legitimate? Yep. Choose what you want to believe.

This isn't what I meant by that. People in popular subreddits like r/WarplanePorn repost old posts all the time as if they were new or sometimes they portray their own opinions as facts when posting something; those places are simply crawling with people like these.

Moreover, we all try not to double post or share things that've already been posted. To your credit, the full pic hasn't been shared here but still a part of it has. You should just check whether it's been posted before.

Regards

 

[sferrin]

This isn't what I meant by that. People in popular subreddits like r/WarplanePorn repost old posts all the time as if they were new or sometimes they portray their own opinions as facts when posting something; those places are simply crawling with people like these.

Moreover, we all try not to double post or share things that've already been posted. To your credit, the full pic hasn't been shared here but still a part of it has. You should just check whether it's been posted before.

Regards

Didn't feel like scrolling through 19 pages of posts. Sorry.

 

[snne]

Didn't feel like scrolling through 19 pages of posts. Sorry.

No need to apologize mate, happens to all of us.

 

[siegecrossbow]

Air Force variant. If you squint hard enough you can see the PAF pilot in the cockpit.

 

[snne]

Air Force variant. If you squint hard enough you can see the PAF pilot in the cockpit.

View attachment 739011

By the way, do we have any consensus on the average annual production capacity of the new plant @ SAC?

 

[Deino]

As it seems another sighting of the J-31 (?) or whatever the land-based version of the J-35 naval fighter may be designated ...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1836430771147460730

View: https://twitter.com/Hurin92/status/1836430771147460730

 

[FighterJock]

Good news about the new J-31 flying. So is the PLAAF finally going to do the right thing and order some J-31s? Or will they still be only for export?

 

[Scott Kenny]

Good news about the new J-31 flying. So is the PLAAF finally going to do the right thing and order some J-31s? Or will they still be only for export?

I suspect that the J-31 is supposed to take up the J-10's place as the light fighter. So there's likely a lot of politicking to do between the factions that support the respective factories.

 

[Blitzo]

Good news about the new J-31 flying. So is the PLAAF finally going to do the right thing and order some J-31s? Or will they still be only for export?

It very much remains an open question if "J-31" (aka land based J-35) would be the "right choice" for the PLAAF.

Whether they buy "J-31" will depend on a combination of the below:
- How many J-20/As they will buy (and its production capacity)
- What the readiness and scale of their UCAV/CCA procurement will look like in the near future
- What the readiness and scale of their next generation manned fighter will look like in the near future

 

[Deino]

It very much remains an open question if "J-31" (aka land based J-35) would be the "right choice" for the PLAAF.

Whether they buy "J-31" will depend on a combination of the below:
- How many J-20/As they will buy (and its production capacity)
- What the readiness and scale of their UCAV/CCA procurement will look like in the near future
- What the readiness and scale of their next generation manned fighter will look like in the near future

... but also political and industrial considerations to split fighter production & procurement over two companies (namely CAC & SAC)

 

[siegecrossbow]

It very much remains an open question if "J-31" (aka land based J-35) would be the "right choice" for the PLAAF.

Whether they buy "J-31" will depend on a combination of the below:
- How many J-20/As they will buy (and its production capacity)
- What the readiness and scale of their UCAV/CCA procurement will look like in the near future
- What the readiness and scale of their next generation manned fighter will look like in the near future

Rumors are we’d get more information abou CNGAD before end of the year. We’ll see.

But even if CNGAD is not ready I don’t think PLAAF could financially support an all Fifth Gen fleet. But inducting J-35 into the Air Force will definitely have a positive impact on export prospects.

 

[Deino]

Interesting comparison of the J-31 (?) - or whatever it is designated - top vs. J-35 bottom

 

[Blitzo]

Rumors are we’d get more information abou CNGAD before end of the year. We’ll see.

But even if CNGAD is not ready I don’t think PLAAF could financially support an all Fifth Gen fleet. But inducting J-35 into the Air Force will definitely have a positive impact on export prospects.

I don't see how J-XD being ready or not ready in the near term has anything to do with the PLAAF's ability to financially support an all 5th generation fleet.

The PLAAF will not become an "all 5th generation" (or above) fleet until the last of its pre-5th generation aircraft are retired, and given J-16s and possibly J-10Cs are still in production today, that won't happen for another 20 or more years given the lifespans of these type of airframes.

If you're talking about only actively procuring 5th generation (or above) aircraft, that also doesn't quite make sense because even if J-XD was not ready in the near term, their procurement will depend on what J-20/A production looks like, what their CCA/UCAV efforts look like and what their land based J-35 intent looks like.

Putting it another way, at some point in the near future there is a good chance the PLAAF will cease new procurement of manned fighters which are pre-5th generation, and the makeup of their active new procurement manned fighters will end up being some mix of J-20/A, J-XD, land based J-35, augmented by unmanned CCA/UCAVs.

Whether they buy a land based J-35 in any capacity imo fully depends on what the readiness of J-XD will be in the 5 year mark and 10 year mark from now, on what J-20/A procurement scale and costs will be, and what CCA/UCAV maturity and readiness can look like as well. I could easily see a situation where a land based J-35 makes no sense and they just power through with mass producing J-20As going into the early 2030s aiming for a total count of 1200-1500, ramping up CCA/UCAV from the late 2020s, and J-XD entering production in the early 2030s alongside J-20A production starting to reduce.



(I'm not calling it "CNGAD". Too many characters, and we didn't call J-XX "CATF" either)

 

[FighterJock]

Interesting Deino, it is hard to tell the two aircraft apart if it were not for your description.

 

[Deino]

Interesting Deino, it is hard to tell the two aircraft apart if it were not for your description.

The clearest difference besides the shorter span and different landing gear is that the J-35‘s horizontal tail cuts into the wing, whereas there is a gap between wing and tail on the J-31.

 

[FighterJock]

Thanks Deino, I did not realise that.

 

[SUPER=BUG]

I clarify how these unannounced model names on the Chinese Internet came about, at first there was only FC31, and then there was a misrepresentation that it was j31, and secondly, the competitor of j20 is not FC31, it is the scheme codenamed Snow Owl, this scheme is also called j14, but whether it is j
31 or J14, these are all misinformation, and then the reason why J31 became J35 is that on the one hand, the model change is a bit big, and on the other hand, as you said, there is a 35 on a verification machine, so the misinformation spread

 

[TMA1]

I know thsse pictures are blurry but is anyone else seeing a strange asymmetry with the jet engine nozzles in some of these images? Any rumors of new or upgraded turbofan engines being tested on these prototypes?

 

[Deino]

There are indeed rumours about one prototype testing the new WS-19, but since we have seen this "asymmetry" already more than once and also on the early J-20 with AL-31FN engines, I think it could be a similar "issue" with one nozzle fully open and one closed (like on the old F-14As)

 

[Ronny]

In fact at best a strange - IMO a plain stupid - report once again based on the typical BS spread by the SCMP!

First, from all we know, this new carrier-borne multirole stealth fighter is the well-known J-35 and not the J-31B a

wait aren't they the same thing? No?, they kinda look the same ?

 

[Scott Kenny]

wait aren't they the same thing? No?, they kinda look the same ?

It's kinda like the relationship between F-35A and -C. The J-35 has a twin nosewheel and bigger wings, the J-31 has a single nosewheel (for some reason) and smaller wings.

 

[FighterJock]

And compared to the J-31, the J-35 has to be structuarly strengthened for carrier take offs and landings.

 

[Deino]

So far clearest image of a J-35 - here prototype no. 3503 - flight.However my feeling tells me this is already an older image only released now since we‘ve seen J-35s already without the pitot & quite strangely the catapult bar is missing.

(Image via @年年有余V5168 from Weibo)

 

[Deino]

Wow … and another new image of the J-35 no. 350003.

Again this looks like an older image released only now but here the catapult bar is attached.

Is this the prelude to the public presentation in Zhuhai?

 

[siegecrossbow]

Wow … and another new image of the J-35 no. 350003.

Again this looks like an older image released only now but here the catapult bar is attached.

Is this the prelude to the public presentation in Zhuhai?

View attachment 743293

These photos are several years old. Apparently some geniuses are trying to force PLAN to display the planes at Zhuhai by demonstrating that they already have high def photos of multiple prototypes so there is no need for secrecy. Weird logic. Hopefully they don’t get invited for tea.

 

[F119Doctor]

There are indeed rumours about one prototype testing the new WS-19, but since we have seen this "asymmetry" already more than once and also on the early J-20 with AL-31FN engines, I think it could be a similar "issue" with one nozzle fully open and one closed (like on the old F-14As)

There has been previous discussion that the J-31 prototypes have been severely underpowered. The nozzle asymmetry could just be one engine in AB with the other one at Mil power.

 

[snne]

I feel like @paralay is secretly cooking something...

Wow … and another new image of the J-35 no. 350003.

Again this looks like an older image released only now but here the catapult bar is attached.

Is this the prelude to the public presentation in Zhuhai?

View attachment 743293

It's pretty subjective but this is my favorite looking 5th gen among all the in service jets and demonstrators that have been designed so far (besides the YF-23/F-23). It's like the F-35 but not so "fat", instead it's more "elegant".

It is also pretty interesting that, although there are some design (like the DSI or canted wing/stab edges for ex.) and size differences, Kaan and J-35 will end up looking pretty much alike from a distance due to a mixture of "F-35 and F-22-ish" design choices.

Also, although the IWB is not exactly the same as that of J-20 (as it's been speculated to be), it's pretty much close at least in terms of surface area so this enables commonality of carriable payload. Which is big for a bird of this size (KF-21/F-35/AMCA class).

 

[Deino]

These photos are several years old. Apparently some geniuses are trying to force PLAN to display the planes at Zhuhai by demonstrating that they already have high def photos of multiple prototypes so there is no need for secrecy. Weird logic. Hopefully they don’t get invited for tea.

Several years? I thought pt. 3503 - then as no. 350003 - had its maiden flight "only" on 23th July 2022? ... or at least "two" years.

 

[Ainen]

It's pretty subjective but this is my favorite looking 5th gen among all the in service jets and demonstrators that have been designed so far (besides the YF-23/F-23). It's like the F-35 but not so "fat", instead it's more "elegant".

Dunno, looks like tadpole to me because of that.
Big big head.