Chinese Armed Forces: News & Discussion

[ashthor]

"Haesaseonbong, a prominent naval military analyst, revealed on the Tencent portal in early January that “according to domestic experts’ estimates, the J-35 can operate for only seven minutes at a distance of 900 km from the carrier.” - this per the Chosun newspaper.

So at 500km from carrier it can operate longer.

[Cybaru]

7 minutes on station at 900 KMS is pretty awesome! I doubt it wants to hang around and patrol 900 kms from launch base! Thats pretty solid performance numbers. I am not catching what the negative press is? Its a flex designed as negative press i think.

[Manish_P]

"Haesaseonbong, a prominent naval military analyst, revealed on the Tencent portal in early January that “according to domestic experts’ estimates, the J-35 can operate for only seven minutes at a distance of 900 km from the carrier.” - this per the Chosun newspaper.

So at 500km from carrier it can operate longer.

And with internally carried weapons and fuel.

Now if it's weapons are long ranged, then it could show itself as an effective platform for it's role - as a carrier based multirole fighter.

In any case the chinese are not going to sit still with the current engine. They will pursue improvements aggressively. Convert it into a drone and use the weight savings to carry more fuel. They are certainly not going to just scuttle the product.

[A_Gupta]

7 minutes on station at 900 KMS is pretty awesome! I doubt it wants to hang around and patrol 900 kms from launch base! Thats pretty solid performance numbers. I am not catching what the negative press is? Its a flex designed as negative press i think.

True. Supposedly the same article says that the J-20 has one hour on station after 900 kilometers.

The search engines give me links to the original article in Chinese, but those links don't work for me here in India. IMO, a Chinese article critical of their own hardware already seems implausible, but who knows what internal politics is going on in China?

Aircraft range is important, IMO, because an aircraft carrier group needs to be far enough from shore-based anti-ship missiles to be able to mount an effective missile defense.

Here is the info if anyone feels it necessary to look:

Title: 歼35成航母累赘？性能不够强，中国海军再寻新舰载机
(Has the J-35 become a burden for aircraft carriers? Performance not strong enough, Chinese Navy seeks new carrier-based aircraft)
Publisher: 海事先锋 (Maritime Pioneer)
Date: January 2, 2026
Platforms: Tencent News, Toutiao

and:

Range & Endurance: At ~900 km from the carrier, the J-35 reportedly has only 7 minutes of combat time. By contrast, the J-20 could sustain nearly 1 hour at the same distance. At 600 km, the J-35 can loiter ~45 minutes, while the J-20 can remain ~86 minutes.

[Manish_P]

... Supposedly the same article says that the J-20 has one hour on station after 900 kilometers...

Isn't that like comparing the on station times of the MiG 29 with the Su 30, at a range favoring the sukhoi.

[A_Gupta]

Very indirectly, this is supposed to be in the article: "Range & Endurance: At ~900 km from the carrier, the J-35 reportedly has only 7 minutes of combat time. By contrast, the J-20 could sustain nearly 1 hour at the same distance. At 600 km, the J-35 can loiter ~45 minutes, while the J-20 can remain ~86 minutes."

The article is about EM catapult launching of the J-20, supposedly being developed because, per the article, per Chinese military planners, the J-35 is inadequate against the Americans.

[Manish_P]

<OT> Fair points.

Intially, unless i am mistaken, the chinese (or the west) promoted the J-20 and the J-35 as a dynamic duo - supposed to operate in tandem.

If that was truly to be the case then their ranges should have been somewhat closer.

The point about being closer to the enemy shores is very valid. For that the J-35 may well be very inadequate. If the fight is in the pacific. But for now the chinese seem to be more focused on fighting the americans in the china seas. </OT>

[A_Gupta]

SCMP article on Chinese scram-jet hypersonic missiles.
How China overtook the US in hypersonic arms and may leave air defences ‘powerless’
A big reason is the long-range CJ-1000, the world’s first and so far only operational land-based scramjet-powered hypersonic missile
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/militar ... e=homepage

[Rakesh]

Satellite images reveal China is surging manufacturing capacity for military aircraft, including J-20 and J-35 stealth fighters
https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing ... 76.article
17 March 2026

[Rakesh]

Please use Google Translate to read the article in English.

China's Air Force Operation Concept Seen in Satellite Image Analysis—Based on the source of the old-fashioned fighter jets that appeared on the coast of the strait as a clue
https://www.nids.mod.go.jp/publication/ ... ry425.html
17 March 2026

https://x.com/PaulHuangReport/status/20 ... 83778?s=20 ---> New report by Aita Moriki, of Japan's Institute for Defense Studies @Nids1952 under @ModJapan_jp, shows China has converted en masse outdated J-6 jets into unmanned suicide drones that could exhaust Taiwan's air defense missiles at the beginning of a war.

[sanjaykumar]

This is obvious repurposing but given the price of current drones and the electronic techniques to make appear as manned fighter size radar objects, it is wasteful of these resources. I have previously asked what India is doing with the Toofani and Gnat fleets.

[Rakesh]

14 J-20 Stealth Fighters: China Just Deployed Its Best Jets 100 Miles From India’s Most Vulnerable Border
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2026/03/chi ... e-buildup/
18 March 2026

China has quietly deployed at least 14 J-20 Mighty Dragon stealth fighters to a Tibetan airbase less than 100 miles from India’s Sikkim border. Armed with PL-15 long-range missiles capable of crossing the Line of Actual Control, the deployment is the largest and most significant PLAAF buildup near Indian territory ever recorded.

[bala]

Now that we have 14 J-20s on the border, the question being asked:
Did China Fake Its Military Breakthroughs? Scientists Are Being Purged

China is quietly purging its top weapons scientists—including the chief designer of the J-20 stealth fighter. From radar to missiles to nuclear research, key figures are disappearing. What triggered this sweeping crackdown? After real combat failures in Iran and Venezuela, serious questions are emerging about China’s military technology. Is this corruption—or something deeper?

One of the key designers of J-20 Yang Wei has been quietly removed.

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