PLA Navy recruitment video gives first official glimpse of China's carrier-based stealth fighter jet

A pilot walks toward an unidentified aircraft in a promotional video on carrier-based pilot recruitment released by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on February 27, 2023. Observers say it could be China's next-generation carrier-based fighter jet. Photo: Screenshot of the PLA Navy promotional video

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Monday released a promotional video aiming to recruit more pilots for its aircraft carriers, following recent policy changes that will see female cadets and students from civilian colleges and universities participate in the recruitment in 2023 for the first time.

It also gave the first official glimpse at what observers said could be China's next-generation carrier-based stealth fighter jet.

The promotional video, titled "Pursuing Dreams in the Sky Above the Sea," is released as the PLA Navy's annual pilot recruitment procedure started for 2023, the PLA Navy said on Tuesday on its social media account.

In 2023, the PLA Navy will for the first time recruit female carrier-based aircraft pilots and select students outside of military academies for this position, and it will also for the first time hold 15-hour flight tests for the recruits, the PLA Navy said.

At the end of the promotional video, a pilot was given "a new mission with new challenges," after which he walked toward an aircraft.

The camera focused on the pilot, so the aircraft was blurred, but observers were able to tell its clear difference from the PLA Navy's current J-15 carrier-based fighter jet. This comparison can be easily drawn because a J-15 could be seen next to this blurred aircraft in the video.

Despite the blurred frame, the general aerodynamic design of this aircraft shows that it is a stealth fighter jet, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The wings of the blurred aircraft are seemingly folded, which is a significant characteristic of being a carrier-based aircraft, Song said.

Although blurred, it is the first time the PLA Navy has officially given the public a glimpse of its next-generation aircraft, observers said.

At Airshow China 2021held in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province in September, Sun Cong, chief designer of the J-15, said at a press conference that good news on the next-generation carrier-based fighter jet would come out later that year.

In October 2021, foreign media outlets reported that a prototype of a carrier-based stealth fighter jet, rumored to be designated the J-35, had made its maiden flight. The reports said the J-35 was developed based on China's second stealth fighter jet, the made-for-export FC-31, with analysts saying it could rival the US' F-35.

Song said that the alleged J-35, which is not confirmed by Chinese military authorities, is expected to operate together with the J-15 to maximize their combat capabilities, just like the US Navy's combination of the F-35C and the F/A-18E/F.

The new fighter jet will likely operate not only on China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, but also on the Liaoning and the Shandong, Song said.

After the launch of the Fujian in June last year, experts predicted that the third carrier could make sea trials this year, and the next-generation carrier-based fighter jet will eventually conduct tests with the Fujian's electromagnetic aircraft launch system.