China’s FC-31 Stealth Fighter Built For Export Demonstrates Manoeuvrability in New Footage

New footage released from an unconfirmed location within the People’s Republic of China has shown a land based variant of the country’s FC-31 fifth generation fighter performing never before seen manoeuvres. The FC-31 has been developed into two known variants, including a carrier based fighter intended for the country’s first supercarrier the Fujian, and possibly other warships in future, as well as a ground based variant that is being marketed for export. China is one of just two countries to field full regiments of indigenous fifth generation fighters, alongside the United States, with the FC-31 being the country’s second fighter from the new generation - following on from the much larger J-20 air superiority fighter which entered service in 2017. The FC-31 not only benefits from technologies developed for the J-20, which has seen rapid incremental improvements since it first began to be delivered to the People’s Liberation Army Air Force in mid-late 2016, but also from the considerable prestige which the J-20 program has given the Chinese fighter aviation industry.  

The FC-31 program is expected to revolutionise China’s position on fighter aviation markets. The aircraft boasts a higher degree of sophistication including far superior stealth capabilities and avionics compared to the Russian Su-57, while also having a far superior range and flight performance, being considered less problematic, and having far less restrictions and political conditions imposed on its use compared to the American F-35. In January 2024 the head of the Pakistan Air Force Air, Chief Marshal Zaheer Sidhu, was confirmed to have announced that the country was preparing to place an order for FC-31s. This was less than two years after Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed stated that he hoped the country would acquire J-20 fifth generation fighters, fuelling speculation that the Defence Ministry had decided on the FC-31 after it was confirmed that the J-20 was not being offered for export. China is the only country in the world that currently produces fighter aircraft for domestic use only, with all non-Chinese fighters in production today being marketed to foreign clients. The J-15 and J-16 fighters currently in production are also not being made available to foreign clients.

Unconfirmed reports have indicated that the FC-31 is currently being considered for acquisitions by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Thailand. With efforts by Abu Dhabi and Bangkok to acquire the F-35 having been rebuffed, with the former having pulled out of talks due to American demands that it seriously downgrade ties with Chinese tech firms as a precondition, the FC-31 offers an alternative that is expected to have greater combat capabilities and have far fewer conditions attached to its sale and operations. Unconfirmed reports have also indicated that the FC-31 has entered low rate initial production, which could prepare the aircraft both for deployments from the Fujian and to meet expected foreign orders, with orders from Pakistan potentially having already been placed. The induction of the aircraft into their first operational unit, either in the Navy or abroad, is expected to further stimulate foreign interest, which could provide Chinese industry with a key opportunity to strengthen defence ties with strategic partners in East Asia, the Middle East, Africa and beyond.