China is currently building the next generation aircraft carrier known as the 003, as well as developing various next-generation aircraft, especially the FC-31 stealth aircraft. At present, the J-15 carrier based fighter jets carried by the Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carriers deployed by the Chinese Navy are subject to many restrictions in use. Its new 003 aircraft carrier will be equipped with catapults and stealth fighters. Especially under the influence of China, many countries have shown a strong interest in owning new aircraft carriers. China's FC-31 stealth fighter jet is likely to become the biggest headache for the South Korean Navy.

On October 29, 2021, flight photos of a new fighter jet were released, confirming to some extent the carrier based aircraft issue that the Chinese Navy is most concerned about. Meanwhile, the fifth generation fighter jet, tentatively named J-31 or FC-31, developed by Shenyang Aviation Industry Group, has undergone multiple changes in its appearance since its first public announcement at the Zhuhai Air Show in 2014. On October 29th, the latest improved version of FC-31 was discovered. Its front landing gear uses dual wheels and is equipped with a catapult connecting rod. It can be confirmed that the improved version has strengthened the front landing gear structure for ejection,and the main wing has also been modified to be foldable. These changes are clear evidence that the Chinese Navy Aviation has adopted FC-31 as its next generation carrier based aircraft. This carrier based FC-31 is still in the testing phase at this time, but if deployed to the Navy Air Force in the future, it will be assigned a J-XX designation as the official designation for China's non export military fighter jets. (Due to the fact that the aircraft is in the same generation as the J-20,the probability of being numbered J-21 is the highest)According to the information released at the Zhuhai Air Show, the FC-31 is a medium-sized fighter jet with a total length of 16.9 meters, a wingspan of 11.5 meters, and a maximum takeoff weight of 28 tons. If this data is maintained, the size of the aircraft is clearly smaller compared to the J-20, which has a length of 21.2 meters, a wingspan of 13 meters, and a maximum takeoff weight of 37 tons.

In addition, as a reference, the US Navy's F-35C has a total length of 15.7 meters, a wingspan of 13.1 meters (9.08 meters when the main wing is folded), and a maximum takeoff capacity of 31 tons; The total length of the F/A-18E/F is 18.31 meters, with a wingspan of 13.62 meters (9.32 meters when the main wing is folded), and a maximum takeoff weight of 30 tons. At present, the main carrier based aircraft of the Chinese Navy, the J-15, has a large body with a total length of 22.3 meters and a wingspan of 14.7 meters (7.4 meters when the main wing is folded).If it needs to ensure its huge weapon payload and range, it will have to occupy additional space. However, the "Liaoning" and "Shandong" aircraft carriers, which use the STOBAR (ski jump takeoff/stop landing) method,are unable to take off the J-15 with full weapons and fuel, and even the J-15's performance cannot be fully utilized on these two aircraft carriers. FC-31 is far superior to J-15 in terms of space utilization. Considering its size and shape, when the main wing is folded, FC-31 is highly likely to reduce the area occupied by the deck and hangar by about 30% compared to J-15. At present, the 4 J-15 aircraft parked on the aircraft carrier require space to support the parking of 5 FC-31 aircraft. If FC-31 is used instead of J-15, the number of aircraft carried by the Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carriers may reach 30-32 FC-31s instead of the current 24 J-15s. Due to the significant increase in size of the 003 aircraft carrier compared to the Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carriers, if the FC-31 is the main aircraft carrier, there will be more carrier based aircraft available for deployment.

Taking the US Navy as an example, the "Kitty Hawk" class aircraft carrier has a history of carrying 42-48 F/A-18 and other support aircraft for multiple long-term missions. If we only focus on simple aircraft carriers,they can easily carry over 60 aircraft. However, if we use various support aircraft to perform missions as efficiently as possible, the number of aircraft will be limited to over 40. Considering that the size of the FC-31 carried by the Type 003 aircraft carrier is similar to that of the F/A-18E/F, and its flight deck area is also similar, it can be assumed that if the Type 003 aircraft carrier carries FC-31, it can carry more than 40 aircraft and conduct high-intensity operations. Another advantage of FC-31 is that it is a fifth generation fighter jet with a radar stealth design. If FC-31 is not cancelled and can enter the operational deployment phase normally, then FC-31 will become the world's second carrier based stealth aircraft after the US F-35C. Of course, as a prototype, the development progress of FC-31 is still unclear, and the level of application of stealth design is also different from other models. However, even if it does not have the high-level radar stealth performance of the F-35C, it is still capable of countering fourth generation fighter jets and has a significant advantage over them.The FC-31 is similar to the US F-22 fighter jet, with a weapon compartment designed at the bottom of the fuselage, and the onboard weapons are mainly mounted internally. The purpose of the weapon compartment is to maximize the stealth performance of the radar. Compared to external mounting, it reduces resistance. The weapon compartment of the aircraft can be equipped with 2-3 tons of weapons through 4-6 mounting points, supporting the use of PL-12/21 missiles. Therefore, the aircraft has the combat capability of flexible operation and can operate flexibly during wartime. For example, by utilizing its stealth capabilities, it can use long-range missiles to attack high-value units behind enemy lines. The weapon rack of FC-31 can carry 8 tons of weapons, which is 20% more than the 6.5 tons of J-15.

All sensor information of FC-31 has not been officially disclosed, but Shenyang Aircraft Industry Group, which participated in the Zhuhai Airshow, mentioned that FC-31 will be equipped with KJL-7 series active phased array radar. The radar was originally an export type radar installed on the FC-1 (JF-17), which is an export type fighter similar to the South Korean FA-50 light fighter. However, the KJL-7A developed after 2016 is based on the KJL-7, but its performance is completely different. The KJL-7A adopts a new active phased array (AESA) antenna module,which increases its range of motion and greatly expands its detection angle by installing the antenna on the top of the mechanical stable platform used by the KJL-7. If a stable platform is not required, KJL-7A can fix the antenna and install small lateral radar antennas on its left and right sides. Taking FC-31 as an example, there is a lateral radar antenna installation area in the space behind the antenna cover and in front of the cabin, which is likely to be equipped with KJL-7A radar. This radar has the same functionality as the J-20's multifunctional radar. Due to all its radar antenna systems being designed since 2014 and utilizing the latest technologies such as gallium nitride (GaN),its hardware performance is expected to be comparable to China's most advanced fighter radar. At the beginning of the release of FC-31, it was not equipped with any sensors other than radar. However, in the FC-31 scale model unveiled at the 2021 Zhuhai Airshow, a photoelectric detection device was added to the lower part of the fuselage, which looks similar to the EOTS electro-optical aiming system of the F-35. Although its specific configuration and performance have not been confirmed yet, if it can provide performance similar to ETOS-86 used by J-20, FC-31 will have the ability to attempt air-to-air combat in radio silence. The fifth generation fighter jet with combat capability in complete radio silence may pose a very lethal threat to countries and their fighter jets that do not have anti stealth measures. Of course, there is too much undisclosed information to judge the sensor performance of FC-31. Even if announced in this situation, it is highly likely that the radar and EOTS performance of the F-35 family will not be achieved.

However, in China's main combat zones, its main opponents are only South Korea and Japan, which can use fifth generation fighter jets as the main force for combat. In other words, the combination of FC-31 and the 003 aircraft carrier will give the 003 aircraft carrier a significant advantage in air-to-air combat against all opponents in its main operational area (South China Sea).However, the development of FC-31 faces a major problem, which is the engine. In fact, many Western experts say that the success or failure of FC-31 depends on the development of the engine. The development team installed the Russian RD-93 engine on the first FC-31 prototype, which was later replaced by the WS-13 engine. WS-13 is a clone of RD-93 and will soon be installed on JF-17. However, the engine thrust of RD-93/WS-13 is only 11000 pounds, and the afterburner thrust is only 19000 pounds, so even with dual engines, the maneuverability of the vehicle is insufficient. For this reason, China is developing a new WS-19 engine.At present, the Chinese Navy has not only carried out performance improvement projects for the J-15 and is developing the WS-19 engine, but also developed the J-15 electronic fighter, KJ-600 carrier based early warning aircraft, and Z-20 carrier based aircraft. In addition, the Chinese are also studying HK-5000G UAV, GJ-11 UAV and other UAVs.

Source: Military of Strong Countries