Key Points: Reports surfaced in late April claiming China’s Shenyang J-35B carrier-capable stealth fighter successfully performed its first electromagnetic catapult (EMALS) launch from the aircraft carrier Fujian (CV-18) in late March.
-While lacking official confirmation, common for Chinese military developments, this alleged milestone signifies a major advancement for the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
-The J-35B, often seen as visually similar to the F-35 (likely influenced by espionage), is purpose-designed for catapult operations, unlike the modified J-15T also reportedly testing on Fujian, whose structural integrity under catapult stress is questioned by some experts.
The J-35B Flying from Aircraft Carrier
A Chinese military internet commentator posted on an X (formerly Twitter) account on April 24 that China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Shenyang J-35B carrier-capable stealth fighter has made its first Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System catapult (EMALS) takeoff from the carrier deck. The launch reportedly occurred aboard the Fujian (CV 18) aircraft carrier in late March.
Like the normal manner in which reporting on developments within the PLA takes place, this test of the EMALS system comes without any official statement from this military arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This practice of conducting unofficial and unreported flight tests and then later announcing an “official” first flight (which, in reality, is usually really the second or later flight) has been the norm for decades now.
This “dress rehearsal before the real event” procedure ensures that when the cameras are rolling, and the media are present, a new aircraft can be showcased and flown for a press event with a near 100 percent assurance of no embarrassing failures.
Suppose the J-35B has really completed a successful EMALS launch. In that case, it is a watershed moment in the history of the development of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) naval aviation capacity. It is an event that the PLA has been pushing hard to bring to fruition in as short a time frame as possible.
The J-35B
There have been months of reports of the J-35—either on a real aircraft or a mock-up—being seen at PLAN carrier simulation and development sites in the PRC. Then, at the end of last year, the J-35 was a front-and-center exhibit at the biennial November 2024 Air Show China in Zhuhai in Guangdong Province and flew during the flight display.More recently, a model of the carrier-capable J-35B was showcased at the February 2025 International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The immediate reflex that many military aircraft experts have when seeing the J-35 for the first time is, “That looks like a two-engine version of the F-35.”
The reaction is not shocking, given that the PRC had been accused of stealing and making extensive use of data on the US stealth jet. Years after the first versions of the F-35 appeared at PRC expos, a Chinese national living in Canada named Su Bin, who operated under the name “Stephen Bin,” was convicted of stealing information on F-22 and F-35 programs out of US Government computer systems and providing it to the PLA.
No one was then surprised that a representative of the export arm of the PRC’s national aerospace conglomerate, the China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC), who was on the agency’s exhibit stand at the Abu Dhabi expo, stated the J-35 fighter aircraft is “similar to the F-35.”
China-watchers who commented on this event said that the CATIC rep was not only being honest about “the degree to which the F-35 begat the J-35 but also dropping that small tidbit of information at IDEX had the desired effect of attracting the attention of potential Middle East customers.”
When asked to elaborate on his remark, the CATIC refused to identify himself or provide any further information—despite the inquiry having come from a Chinese publication.
Catapult Launching and Aircraft Structure
The Fujian is the PLAN’s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier. As the fleet’s first real “flattop” design is reportedly equipped with three EMALS catapults, it is a significant departure from the first two PLAN carriers, the CV 16 Liaoning and the CV 17 Shandong.
Those two carriers were built with a ski-ramp-style flight deck instead of a catapult, which limited the weapons or fuel loads of aircraft taking off from them.
The Fujian’s displacement is estimated at 80,000 – 85,000 tons. It is the first vessel in its class and is the beginning of Beijing’s intent to build carrier battle groups that mirror those operated by the United States.
The J-35B is the key to this plan, designed “from the ground up” to be a catapult-launched aircraft. The aircraft flown from the CV 17 and CV 17 ski-ramp PLAN carriers, the Shenyang J-15, is a heavily reverse-engineered and modified derivative of the Russian Sukhoi Su-33 carrier-based naval fighter.
Using this aircraft has been the limiting factor in the PLAN’s naval aviation ambitions, as it was never designed with the concept of being catapult launched. The nose gear of the aircraft has since been modified so it can be attached to a catapult. This new variant, the J-15T, is also reportedly being test-launched with the Fujian EMALS catapult.
Russian aircraft designers familiar with the Su-33’s development point out to 19FortyFive that “the Chinese can modify their copied version of our Su-33 aircraft all they want, but the laws of aircraft structural design are not changeable by Chinese Communist Party dictates. Eventually launching that aircraft using a catapult is going to cause cracks and other failures in the [J-15T] structure.”
“What will happen with the J-35B is another story. That program began as the ‘FC-31’, which originally flew with Russian engines, but it was underpowered and a poor performer. Now, the Chinese claim they have their own engine design that works for this smaller aircraft. We will see how long that can work dependably and if the J-35B proves to be a viable [carrier-capable] design.”
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
