The development of new fifth-generation combat aircraft by the People’s Republic of China continues unabated. This is evident from a series of photographs that have gone viral on social media, which purportedly confirm new test flights of the future stealth fighter J-31 (also known as the FC-31). According to reports, unlike the J-20, one of the main goals of the J-31 would be to target the export market, in addition to equipping the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
Currently developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, the J-31 or FC-31 Gyrfalcon is the next major endeavor by China’s aerospace complex to provide the People’s Liberation Army with a new fifth-generation platform. However, similar to the U.S. approach with the F-35, this new aircraft is also aimed at the export market for allied countries of the Asian giant, as evidenced by Pakistan’s official expressions of interest.
To date, many details of the development remain strictly confidential. However, it has been revealed that several prototypes are being built to meet the requirements of the PLA Navy, which aims to equip its future aircraft carriers, such as the Fujian, with a new stealth carrier-based fighter. Although no further specifics have been provided, Shenyang is developing a variant of the J-31, known as the J-35, which will be compatible with operation from aircraft carriers. This is demonstrated by the presence of various full-scale mockups on Chinese capital ships, used for different types of testing.
Returning to the recently released photographs, they depict a test flight of a J-31 aircraft intended for the PLAAF. The detail is evident in the sequence, where the aircraft’s landing gear is deployed, indicating that the front landing gear is not of the reinforced type that would be fitted to a carrier-based variant.
Additionally, emulating what has been observed in other fifth-generation fighters, such as the F-35, there appears to be an infrared search and tracking system (IRST) under the nose of the aircraft. However, no further details have been obtained regarding the locations of the test flights conducted by the new J-31.
You may also like: New images of the Chinese Navy’s experimental stealth corvette have been released
