Another appearance by China’s new fighter
March 18, 2025
The Chengdu Aircraft Corporation J-36 was one of the new designs that emerged on 26 December 2024, and which we described in our feature ‘New Chengdu combat air platform debuts on Mao’s birthday’.
A slightly better side view photo suggests that the dorsal intake could incorporate a diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI) hump, with a very sharp forward raked intake ‘lip’. The shallow canopy does not seem to be long enough for tandem seating, perhaps indicating that the crew sit side-by-side.
The aircraft appeared to be flying unaccompanied by a chase aircraft this time, but still seems not to have retracted its landing gear. A decidedly non-stealthy flight test instrumentation probe is installed on the nose.
One photo emerged appearing to show all three engines employing reheat during a go around or take off, though this may have been edited or manipulated.
Tyler Rogoway, of the War Zone, wrote that satellite imagery from Planet Labs showed that a new shelter had been erected on the flight test line at the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group’s factory airfield, the Chengdu Wenjiang Airport, sometime between November and December 2024. This is surrounded by an access-controlled barrier, presumably intended to block line-of-sight from outside the airfield. A similar structure has been built on the main apron.
