SinoSoldier
Colonel
Not the first time that the J-35 designation has been mentioned. He's also not the only semi-credible source that has used this designation.
Shenyang FC-31 / J-31 Fighter Demonstrator
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Not the first time that the J-35 designation has been mentioned. He's also not the only semi-credible source that has used this designation.
Old assembly footage...
Its a beautiful airframe, but with only two distinctly different "prototype" aircraft, this thing has been on the "back burner" for a long, long, long time?? I'm imagining that lack of a suitable upgraded power plant and a firm commitment by the govt are keeping it on ice, so its rather irrelevant at this time whether to call it the FC-31 or FC-35...
Shenyang has to be commended for an outstanding effort, but I wish the Govt would make some kind of commitment to further development of this aircraft.....
Indeed old footage and interesting, since the one on top is the #01 prototype and the one below is #02.
SinoSoldier
Colonel
Looks like whoever wrote this article has some beef with the FC-31 and can all but spew nonsensical crap to get that point across.
asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
Does the appearance of WS-19 mean the J31 project is still alive?
It means the naval stealth fighter is on schedule and we will likely see a prototype before 2020. It also means the naval stealth fighter will be a significant improvement over the FC-31. Whether the FC-31 as we know it continues to exist after this is up for debate.
From what I understand the FC-31 project started out mostly with internal funds of the relevant institutes. However there were enough rumors recently that make me think the basic design has been accepted as a basis to make a production fighter and got state funded. Now that a suitable engine has also become available I think there is little stopping the development of a mid-weight fighter. If they reuse as many systems as possible from the FC-1 and J-20 I think we could see a working prototype of this soon. I also expect a production variant to become available well before 2025 like is implied in that figure. I would not be surprised if it was in production in 2-3 years.
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