[VIDEO] J-35A Takes Off: China’s Twin-Engine Stealth Fighter Enters Mass Production ?

(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — China’s next-generation J-35A stealth fighter, developed under a shroud of secrecy for over a decade, has reportedly conducted its maiden flight as the first airframe to emerge from full-rate mass production.

The flight of the J-35A, China’s second operational fifth-generation combat aircraft following the Chengdu J-20 “Mighty Dragon,” signals a major leap in Beijing’s ambition to field a broad-spectrum stealth fleet capable of competing with U.S. and allied airpower in contested regions such as the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.

Mass production for fighter aircraft refers to the large-scale, continuous manufacturing of a specific fighter jet model after it has successfully completed its design, prototyping, and testing phases, and has been approved for operational deployment.

It means the aircraft is no longer experimental or in limited production — it is now being built in quantity on an established assembly line to fulfil real-world military needs, either for domestic use or export.

Images and video footage of the J-35A in flight—still unpainted and bearing its zinc chromate green primer—surfaced on Chinese social media platforms, appearing to confirm its debut over a city in northeastern China, reportedly near Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s (SAC) manufacturing complex.

The greenish hue, characteristic of aircraft in production stages, is the result of an anti-corrosion primer based on zinc chromate or zinc phosphate, used to protect the fighter’s aluminum and alloy structure before it receives its final low-observable (LO) coating.

This first mass-produced J-35A is expected to enter service with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), reinforcing China’s growing fifth-generation inventory as it transitions from prototyping to operational deployment.

The J-35A is being developed by SAC, a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), and has long been earmarked as a potential stealth export platform—a role the J-20 is forbidden from assuming due to its highly classified technology suite.

Pakistan, a close strategic partner of China and a core member of the Belt and Road security matrix, is reported to be the first international customer for the J-35A, with Islamabad said to have placed an initial order for 40 aircraft.

In the context of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, and India’s reliance on legacy fourth-generation Su-30MKIs and 4.5-generation Rafales, the potential arrival of J-35As could significantly shift the regional airpower calculus in Pakistan’s favor.

Reports suggest that Beijing is fast-tracking the delivery of the first J-35A batch to Pakistan, with timelines moved forward from late 2026 to early 2026, reflecting both political urgency and strategic alignment between the two countries.

“With Beijing expediting the delivery by six months, Pakistan is now expected to receive its first batch of fifth-generation stealth fighters in early 2026.”

In preparation for the induction, select Pakistani Air Force (PAF) pilots have already been dispatched to China for conversion training on the J-35A, reinforcing expectations of a near-term handover.

While Chinese and Pakistani officials have yet to publicly confirm the accelerated timeline, Defence Security Asia continues to monitor for official statements from Islamabad, the PAF, or SAC.

The acquisition of a fifth-generation platform by Pakistan would represent a paradigm shift in South Asian aerial warfare, enabling Islamabad to conduct networked, beyond-visual-range (BVR) engagements with a stealth asset not yet matched by India’s current inventory.

As early as 2024, the Pakistan Air Force had openly expressed interest in procuring a fifth-generation stealth fighter, with the J-35A emerging as its top candidate due to its twin-engine survivability, stealth profile, and affordability.

In that same year, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar confirmed the negotiations, saying the aircraft would be inducted into the PAF “in the near future.”

“Negotiations have already taken place to acquire the J-35A, which will soon become part of the Pakistan Air Force,” he said.

Unlike the J-20, which is reserved exclusively for China’s internal use—much like the U.S. F-22 Raptor—the J-35A has been developed with export in mind, likely with scaled-back sensor fusion and mission systems to meet foreign military sales restrictions.

A chief engineer at the Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute under AVIC stated that the J-35A was designed with enhanced low-observability, digitized battlefield integration, and AI-driven smart combat features as its foundation.

“Since users have set higher requirements for stealth, the aircraft developer has implemented many new technological measures and systems. In the process, notable progress and innovations have been realized across multiple areas,” the official told Global Times.

The aircraft is designed to operate effectively in both stealth-dominant and counter-stealth environments, a requirement driven by modern battlefield saturation of sensor networks, airborne early warning (AEW&C) platforms, and long-range intercept systems.

“Its mission focuses on gaining and maintaining air superiority, eliminating hostile fourth and fifth-generation fighters, and targeting ground- and sea-based air defense forces.”

“The aircraft is also tasked with intercepting aerial threats such as enemy fighters, bombers, and cruise missiles.”

In strategic terms, the J-35A is a centerpiece in Beijing’s long-term goal to break U.S. air dominance and impose a regional anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) perimeter using a high-low mix of advanced and affordable fifth-generation assets.

The J-35A adopts a twin-engine, single-seat configuration, optimized for stealth and agility, and is engineered to serve as a “force multiplier” in networked joint operations, similar to the doctrinal role of the U.S. F-35.

It is designed to function as a nodal asset within China’s integrated air defense system, capable of collecting, fusing, and distributing real-time targeting data across platforms, including surface-to-air missile batteries and other manned or unmanned systems.

Its airframe and LO design emphasize aerodynamic fluidity and reduced radar cross-section (RCS), with a V-tail layout and serrated paneling to suppress both radar and infrared signatures.

The aircraft eschews the canard-delta layout seen in the J-20 in favor of a conventional tailplane design, utilizing steeply canted vertical stabilizers to balance stealth with high maneuverability.

Powered by two high-thrust turbofan engines, the J-35A provides greater redundancy and survivability than single-engine designs like the F-35A, though the broader physical dimensions result in a marginally larger radar return.

Further signature reduction is achieved through radar-absorbing materials (RAM), flush-mounted control surfaces, and low-IR exhaust shaping, making the aircraft highly survivable in high-threat environments.

An internal weapons bay enables the carriage of long-range air-to-air missiles like the PL-17, ensuring the aircraft maintains full stealth in BVR engagements while also enabling long-range air denial missions.

Equipped with an AESA radar and a suite of distributed electro-optical and infrared sensors, the J-35A is capable of full-spectrum situational awareness, electronic countermeasures, and collaborative targeting with manned or unmanned assets.

This technological foundation allows it to act as a “quarterback” in digital air warfare, much like the F-35 functions within the U.S. Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) framework.

In addition to the land-based J-35A, a carrier-capable variant of the aircraft is under active development to operate from China’s new catapult-equipped Type 003 aircraft carriers, suggesting the platform is central to the PLA’s long-term joint force strategy.

The J-35A’s modular design and scalable architecture reflect China’s intent to field a versatile, mass-producible stealth aircraft that can evolve into future block variants with improved engines, sensors, and AI-enabled decision aids.

As regional powers continue to pursue fifth-generation capabilities, the emergence of the J-35A in operational quantities—backed by export ambitions and strategic alliances—marks a defining moment in Asia’s accelerating stealth arms race.

— DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA