Agreed, btw in April 施佬 (shilao, who's quite close to yankeesama generally speaking a credible guy) mentions that the relation between the current FC-31 and the 4th gen naval fighter is likely comparable to the relation between YF-17 and F-18... this should explain to some degree what the new fighter would be like
I don't actually know about the incident... AFIAK there's no credible information on J-35 prototype atm, the most interesting sighting of FC-31 prototypes would be a pic taken in XI'AN in early May (if my memories are correct).
My speculation: a FC-31 prototype, most likely 31003, has recently flown to XI'AN's Yan Liang testing facilities for test flights, but I cant be sure what this means
p.s. judging from yesterday's article from the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment (as of now the article has been deleted, which could either mean it's bullshit or it leaked too much info) I'd say that most likely the SAC has not finished building their 4th gen carrier fighter prototype (not FC31, the real thing)
Reading the screenshot snippet it sounds like whatever important new plane it was involved some kind of high speed networked flight control system, so my guess is this is probably a UAV.
