The FC-31 Gyrfalcon: China’s “Other” Stealth Fighter

Around the world, air combat is changing fast. Between United States fighter-jet models like the F-22 and the F-35, the Chinese J-20, the Russian Su-57, and potential high-tech indigenous designs from Turkey, India, Japan, and Europe, fighter technology is evolving faster than ever before. Fifth-generation jets are functionally invisible to radar, prepared to lead swarms of drone aircraft, and capable of shooting down even fourth-generation fighters like the F-16 or the MiG-29 before they’ve even been detected. The implications for aerial warfare are only just beginning to be discovered, and with dozens of countries intending to either acquire such technology or build it on their own, fifth-gen aircraft may become either a great equalizer across regional and global powers, or the starting point for yet another worldwide arms race.

But lest you think China is spoken for, with its Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon, think again. There is another aircraft on track to represent China and its global partners in the skies: the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s FC-31, the Gyrfalcon. Bearing a strong resemblance to American fighter designs, the FC-31 has been a quiet, background competitor to the J-20 for years, and all indications are that in the 2020s, it may make the jump from prototype to the production line.

Origins and Development

Although we can’t pinpoint precisely when the FC-31 was designed, due to the secretive nature of China’s aircraft R&D process, we do know that it was entered into a competition by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, or PLAAF, in the late 2000s, in order to fill the role of China’s next-generation fighter aircraft. The FC-31 proposal was submitted by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, a private-ish company based in China with a long history of supplying fighter and bomber aircraft to the PLAAF. The FC-31 was a direct competitor with the J-20, and if we tell you that the J-series designation is reserved for aircraft that have been officially adopted for use by the PLAAF…well, that should be a good indicator that the FC-31 did not end up securing a contract. Just a note as we go forward; the naming conventions of this plane have been murky at best, and we’ll get more into that soon, but for purposes of this article, we’ll refer to it under the technically accurate designation of FC-31.

While there’s no direct confirmation, Western analysts believe that the FC-31’s engines might have been the contributing factor that underwhelmed the Chinese air force, given that they seemed to lack some of the necessary kick for top-tier fighter performance. However, it’s important to note that Shenyang Aircraft Corporation has been one of China’s most trusted aerospace companies for decades, and a long series of successful contracts have ensured that if nothing else, the company’s earned a whole lot of money. So when the PLAAF didn’t bite on their offer, Shenyang decided to keep the FC-31 design alive on their own, and develop the aircraft privately with the hopes of eventually demonstrating its usefulness.

Whatever happened afterward, happened behind closed doors, so we unfortunately can’t bring you the level of inside info that we could for, say, the F-35. But what we do know is that the plane’s existence began to leak out in the early 2010s, beginning when a model of a Shenyang-produced fighter aircraft circulated online in September 2011. Then designated the F-60 due to a label on one of its vertical stabilizers, the leak confirmed speculation that Shenyang had been working on their own competitor design to rival the J-20, which had had its own images leaked in late 2010.

Almost exactly a year later, photos circulated of an aircraft that looked, at least outwardly, to be fully assembled on the tarmac at the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation’s airfields. By this time, Chinese authorities had publicly acknowledged the program’s existence, referring to it as the J-21, J-31, or F-60 in varying sources, although they hadn’t made any official announcements about the plane.

Keen observers of these photographs picked up on a few things: the plane had two wheels under the nose, not one, which typically would indicate a plane built to operate from an aircraft carrier. It also appeared to be designed in a way that would make it more nimble than the J-20, suggesting a role as an air-superiority fighter rather than a multirole aircraft. A nearby truck allowed observers to judge the plane as being smaller than the J-20, and analysts also noted its lack of canards, the small forewings that can be observed on many modern fighter aircraft.

The J-20 design does include canards, which make it difficult for a plane to keep a truly stealthy radar cross-section, whereas this new plane didn’t include them. All these observations painted a fairly clear picture of just what this new aircraft was supposed to be: a stealthy, highly maneuverable aircraft that could prove itself dominant over other fighter planes, launched either from Chinese bases on land or from aircraft carriers at sea.

But there was one other observation we need to touch on: the plane’s uncanny resemblance to the American F-22 and F-35 fighter designs. There’s a halfway reasonable argument that simply looking like somebody else’s fighter aircraft is no crime at all; after all, the American designs are certainly good at being stealth aircraft, and even if it were unintentional, well, there’s not that many more ways to skin this particular cat. But the air of plausible deniability sours a bit, when we bear in mind that in 2007 and 2008 the United States’ Joint Strike Fighter program was hacked and had several terabytes of its data stolen, almost definitely by China. This bred a longstanding suspicion that any resulting Chinese fighter plane designs would draw on stolen information from the US, and most Western analysts agree that the information has since been incorporated into the FC-31.

White Elephant to the Production Line

Over the following few years, more and more information slowly became available about the FC-31. For example, the moniker F-60 was eventually clarified as referring to the export version of the plane, whereas the J-31 would be the name for the aircraft if it were to be adopted by the Chinese military. The fact that Shenyang was looking to produce an export version was relevant in a few ways, not least because the J-20 aircraft has since been clarified as explicitly not for export sale.

While the American F-22 Raptor has also been withheld from foreign markets, the American F-35 has been sold to or requested by some fifteen global allies, and thus become a valuable extension of the United States’ global hegemony. Russia’s Su-57 Felon aircraft was also developed with foreign customers in mind, although that effort has failed fairly miserably.

Shenyang’s interest in building an export product thus helped its ambitions with the Chinese military in two ways. First, it offered China a chance to get in on the game of upgrading its allies to fifth-generation aircraft, something that’s become extremely relevant in a world where any regional power that lacks such fighter planes would be at a severe disadvantage in future conflicts. Most of the world’s regional powers have either attempted to buy fifth-generation aircraft from a major producer, or build one themselves, so an adoption of the FC-31 would give China an inroad to that market without compromising whatever it wants to hide within the J-20. Relatedly, those sales would also allow China a valuable chance to expand its regional and global influence, in a time when it’s been attempting to do just that.

The world got its first clear look at the FC-31’s design when a quarter-scale model was unveiled at AirShow China, 2012. The statements made at the airshow were telling: “Currently, the only fifth-generation fighter available for sale is the F-35 by the US. The ‘J-31’ will offer an alternative for non-traditional allies of the US”.

Despite the use of the J- prefix, the model still hadn’t been adopted by the Chinese military, but it had made its maiden flight on October 31, 2012, in a Halloween demonstration that Western militaries would probably have found very spooky indeed. The chairman of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China claimed that the aircraft had been fully privately funded, which squares with what we now know about the FC-31’s development and design.

The next big news on the FC-31 came during the 2015 Dubai Airshow, where Shenyang announced that it was actively marketing the plane to the PLAAF—not that it had been bought, yet, but that it was still being marketed. Shenyang also expressed their goal to put a production version in the sky by 2019, with full operational capability by or before 2025. Yet again, Shenyang hammered home their focus on producing an export product, reiterating that they were open to a foreign partner.

But beyond that, they gave a surprising level of detail on the fighter’s design and capabilities. As they described it, the FC-31 was designed as a multirole fighter, with mission capacities ranging from offensive and defensive air superiority actions, to air defense suppression, to close air support and more. It was specified to have two internal weapons bays, an essential component for stealth aircraft design, plus six external hardpoints and an internal cannon, with a total payload capacity of 8,000 kilograms.

The plane’s top speed was reported at about 2,200 kilometers per hour, with a range of two thousand kilometers when using external fuel tanks. These numbers were favorably comparable to the F-35A, with a higher top speed and greater payload, albeit with a somewhat shorter range.

Of course, these were still early measurements, and as the development of the plane continued, so too did its capacities and technology improve. Its lead designer indicated that the aircraft would, indeed, be built with carrier capability, and new technologies like electro-optical target-tracking systems were integrated into the design, with developers claiming that the specific tracking system the FC-31 incorporated could detect stealth aircraft like the American F-22 fighter and B-2 bomber at ranges greater than a hundred kilometers. A second prototype made its maiden flight in 2016, with outward indications to suggest that its stealth capabilities, maneuverability, payload, and electronic systems had all been enhanced.

In 2018, the world learned that Shenyang’s gamble on the FC-31 had finally paid off: both the Chinese air force and navy were seeking to acquire the plane, and the Chinese government had finally decided to dedicate its own financial support to the aircraft. This significantly changed international perceptions of the aircraft, which had previously been dismissed, in whole or in part, as a white elephant: something that the Chinese government didn’t want and didn’t need, but couldn’t seem to get rid of. Instead, it appeared to have something to offer that the J-20 didn’t.

Since 2018, development of the craft appears to have ramped up, with a carrier version taking its first test flight in 2021. But with official military endorsement comes top-tier protocols to guard against leaks of sensitive information, and as of right now, we don’t know much more about what the last few years of development have entailed.

Specs, Operation, and Future

With the FC-31 not yet confirmed for assembly-line production, it’s likely that at least some of its currently known specifications are going to change with time. But as of right now, the airplane’s features and performance metrics are eye-catching when compared to international competition. A single-seater, twin-engine fighter aircraft, it’s built at a length of about seventeen meters, with a wingspan of eleven and a half meters.

At sea level, it can cruise along at about 1.1 times the speed of sound, but at altitude, it hits about Mach 1.8 with supercruise capability. As of now, it’s got a functional combat radius of 1,200 kilometers, and can fly at altitudes of sixteen thousand meters. Its carrying capacity is somewhat in question, currently with six known external hardpoints and two internal weapons bays with two hardpoints each.

That’s the same carrying capacity as the F-35, but Chinese state media has indicated that it has more hardpoints than the F-35, so there’s an ongoing discrepancy there.

For its stealth technology, the FC-31 uses external stealth coatings to minimize radar impact, rather than itself being constructed out of the same fiber-mat composites of, say, the F-35. Its avionics include advanced radar, early-warning systems, and that high-tech optical targeting system we’ve already discussed. Any other information on its cutting-edge technology, or lack thereof, is unknown to the public at this time, although it is important to note that Western assessments, which have found both China’s J-20 and Russia’s Su-57 aircraft a step short of true fifth-generation status, have had no such issues with the FC-31 as of yet.

In this assessment, it’s worth noting just how many points of similarity the FC-31 shares with the F-35, from large-scale elements like its visual profile to things like its mechanism to manage heat and airflow, which is the same one used by the F-35. There are obviously some significant differences—the FC-31 uses two engines compared to the F-35’s one, for example—and there’s still no telling what the FC-31 has under the hood. But some of the points of difference may actually be attempts to improve on the design of the F-35, especially if China may be in possession of stolen data that indicates points where the F-35 can be surpassed.

In some realms, the FC-31 clearly falls short—for example, a significantly higher empty weight, and a lower payload limit, shrinking its carrying capacity from both ends. But even still, it’s a clear improvement on anything China has in its arsenal, possibly excluding the J-20.

If the fighter does hit production and enter service with the Chinese military, which it looks as if it will, then it’ll replace China’s J-15 Flying Shark aircraft, which currently serves as its carrier-based fighter. As of right now, China sails two aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong, with a third, the Fujian, expected to be commissioned soon. A fourth carrier is already being constructed, and a newer-generation model equipped with nuclear propulsion may someday take over carrier operations.

As such, China’s demand for carrier-capable jet fighters is only going to grow as time goes on, one that its navy would be far better-off filling with a fifth-generation aircraft than models that are quickly becoming obsolete. The FC-31 will need some modifications in order to manage the ski-jump design of the two carriers China has already commissioned, but these would be fuselage and hardware changes that are well within China’s technological capacity to manage.

Upon entering service, the FC-31 will immediately outclass United States aircraft like the F-15 Eagle, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the F/A-18 Hornet and Super-Hornet. The same goes for Russian designs like the MiG-29, MiG-31, and Su-35, as well as European designs like the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Saab Gripen. It’ll also prove a very interesting competitor with fifth-generation fighter aircraft, with a distinct possibility that it could directly challenge F-22 and F-35 planes.

As we indicated in our assessment of the Su-57, that Russian fighter is likely to be more of an advanced-fourth-generation fighter than a true fifth-generation if it ever reaches mass production, and the FC-31 could probably hold up just fine against the Felon’s known capabilities. The Su-75 Checkmate, still in development, might be better or worse. Who knows, with those Russian models.

Granted, this is taking all the sorts of rosy assessments Western sources can make via airshows and data leaks, and there’s certainly a possibility that the whole plane could be a massive dud. But if it’s not, it could significantly change the landscape of global air supremacy, in a way that the United States and NATO will probably not enjoy.

And speaking of international alliances like NATO, it’s worth at least attempting to gauge the export potential of the FC-31. We’ll grant you that the lack of current export customers isn’t necessarily a great sign, but it’s also not hard to imagine where skepticism might come from: China would be marketing an aircraft that it didn’t even want in its own military. If the FC-31 becomes a cornerstone to the Chinese navy, and possibly even enters its air force, that could be a game-changer for smaller powers around the world.

Pakistan, for example, has had its eye on a potential indigenous effort to develop a fifth-generation aircraft, but could save itself a hell of a lot of time and resources by just buying the FC-31. Elsewhere in the world, Turkey’s status as the F-35’s spurned ex-lover means that it could probably be courted by a Chinese equivalent model, although its fifth-generation TF-X prototype might have been unveiled by the time of this writing. The Aviation Industry Corporation of China recently announced a new office to promote the plane internationally, suggesting that there’s a reasonable belief that someone out there is looking to buy.

We still don’t know when, or if, the FC-31 will be accepted for full production status in China. We don’t know quite what it’s capable of, or what kind of futuristic tech madness might be concealed within its systems. We don’t know whether the Chinese air force will field it as a fighter aircraft, or whether the Chinese navy will, or whether it’ll be given to some international buyer, or any combination of those possibilities.

Frankly, we don’t know if it’s even going to be a legitimate threat, or whether it’ll go the same way as the Su-57 did in Russia. But what we do know is that the FC-31 has battled back against all odds, and managed to create at least a hypothetical place for itself in China’s airborne arsenal where none previously existed. If it assumes that place in real life, then one way or another, the world is sure to find out what it’s capable of.

Key Takeaways

• The FC-31, China’s stealth fighter, is a competitor to the J-20, with potential for both domestic and export markets.
• Developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, the FC-31 was initially rejected by the PLAAF but is now gaining traction.
• The FC-31’s design resembles American F-22 and F-35 fighters, raising suspicions of stolen technology.
• China aims to use the FC-31 to expand its influence and upgrade allies with fifth-generation aircraft.
• The FC-31’s capabilities, including stealth and maneuverability, position it as a significant player in global air combat.

Sources

• Original MegaProjects video: The FC-31 Gyrfalcon: China’s “Other” Stealth Fighter
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• https://thediplomat.com/2021/02/the-fc-31-chinas-other-stealth-fighter/
• https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/china-to-promote-fc-31-for-export
• Hero image source by Ayratayrat / openverse, by-sa.

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