A look at the Shenyang J-31

China has unveiled a sophisticated new stealth fighter jet at an air show, in a show of muscle during a visit by US president Barack Obama for an Asia-Pacific summit.

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It must be able to carry out multiple types of mission including close air support, air interdiction, aerial bombardment and suppression of enemy air defenses. For this reason, the article stated, the heavier J-20 is designed to engage enemy fighters at high altitude while the J-31 is more likely to be used in operations against ground targets at medium or low altitude.

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Article that mentions J-31 engines

Opinion Piece by Luke Herbert

The unveiling of the Shenyang J-31 multi role Stealth combat aircraft by the People's Liberation Army Air Force coincided with the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) summit held in Beijing.


I have chosen to leave the topic of how the J-31 is powered by Russian designed jet engines for a separate blog entry that will look at Chinese aviation industry's efforts in the field of jet engine development in depth.

What is overlooked by the main stream media reports of the formal unveiling of the J-31 is that while the aircraft was was being developed simultaneously the Chinese will have either constructing new factories and or retooling existing ones to mass produce the design for export purposes and service in the People's Liberation Air Force.


The J-31 reflects the Chinese and Russian design philosophy of being comparable to existing more technology advanced designs while being less cutting edge. By its less advanced nature the J-31 will be inexpensive and easy to mass produce when the aircraft is ready to enter front line service. This approach allows the People's Liberation Air Force to field the J-31 as an aircraft that will be just good enough to get the job or roles assigned to it done so to speak and is comparable to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.


Much of the commentary in the main stream media and the blogosphere has and will focus on how the J-31 matches up to the F-35 which is considered to be a direct equivalent in the design stakes. In contrast the trade off for the F35 being on the cutting edge of aviation technology is reflected in the aircraft's extremely expensive per unit costs and slow production times on the factory floor. The F-35 is in service with the United States Air Force and will enter service with the Royal Air Force ,Royal Australian Air Force,Royal Canadian Air Force,The Italian Air Force,Royal Netherlands Air Force,Royal Norwegian Air Force and The Turkish Air Force.


I believe that a useful historical parallel for the reader is how the Luftwaffe squadrons equipped with the ME 262 the world's first operational jet fighter were unable to overcome the allies ten to one superiority in number of aircraft despite all the technology and aerial performance advantages the Me-262 enjoyed in the air. Like wise in a future war the F-35 and F-22 squadrons of the future will be flown into the meat grinder of attrition by six to one advantage the enemy will enjoy in numbers of combat aircraft.

In summary I believe that the J-31 will successfully fill the role of a multi role combat aircraft in the People's Liberation Air Force. The notion that the J-31 only has to be “just good enough” is at the heart of Chinese and Russian philosophies towards the design of aircraft and other war material.

Lastly lets compare how the J-31 and the F-35 design philosophies will materialise in a future war. The nature of the J-31 mass production friendly design will allow the People's Liberation Air Force to replace losses from combat and accidents in a straight forward manner. The United States Air Force and its counterparts where the F-35 is in front line service will face a short fall of aircraft due production rates not keeping up with losses.