Chinese J-31 Stealth Fighter Program Shows Major Progress; Upgraded Airframe Displayed at Paris Air Show

China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corporation has reportedly made significant progress in developing the J-31 fifth generation medium weight fighter jet - displaying an enhanced variant of the aircraft at the Paris Air Show. Changes to the design, which among other things include a bulking up of the areas behind the cockpit and area housing the engines and better optimised aerodynamics, indicates that a serial production variant of the fighter is nearing completion after the early model prototypes saw their first flights in 2012. It is notable that the unveiling of the new J-31 variant comes shortly after the successful development of new more powerful engines for the fighter - and the new aircraft design displayed accordingly features very different nozzles on its engines. Whether the fighter will integrate thrust vectoring systems or a supercruise capability as heavier stealth fighters such as the American F-22 Raptor do remains uncertain. Early J-31 prototypes previously reportedly made use of a derivative of the RD-33 engine, which are insufficient for a high flight performance due to the aircraft’s considerable weight.

The J-31 is set to be the fifth fighter of its generation to enter service, and the second designed as a multirole platform outside the heavyweight category after the American F-35. The aircraft will provide China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with a lighter and less specialised counterpart to the Chengdu J-20 heavyweight air superiority fighter which entered service in 2017. The J-20 is currently the only  fifth generation fighter in the world to have entered serial production outside the United States, and has not been made available for export. Displaying the J-31 overseas has fuelled earlier speculation that the lighter fighter was intended primarily for export - with questions previously having been raised as to what use the Chinese People’s Liberation Army itself could make for the platform given its strong preference for aircraft in either heavier or lighter weight ranges in the past. It is likely that the J-31, alongside its lightweight single engine counterpart currently being developed under Project AZM, will be marketed for export to a wide range of clients - a rival to the costly and troubled American F-35A stealth fighter which as of yet is far from a state of full combat readiness.