China’s engineers in race to build best stealth jet for nation’s aircraft carriers
- Developers at Chengdu Aerospace working on shorter version of J-20 to make it suitable for use with next generation catapult launch systems, insiders say
- FC-31, being developed by sister company, is already shorter but some experts say it is not as robust
The companies behind China’s J-20 and FC-31 fighter planes are going head to head in the race to develop the stealth jet of choice for the navy’s next generation aircraft carriers, military sources said.
And for the engineers working on the former, the biggest challenge could be making the new version of the jet short enough to work with the catapult launch systems currently being developed for use on the giant vessels.
The J-20 was designed and built by Chengdu Aerospace Corporation, while the FC-31 is being developed by its sister company Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, which also produced the J-15, which is already in service.
Despite reports on social media saying a decision had been made to use the FC-31, the sources said the matter was far from resolved.
“The navy has yet to decide which one they prefer as both the J-20 and the FC-31 have their advantages and weaknesses,” one of the sources said.
