Overview

• Chinese military media released hangar footage of carrier-capable J-35 and land-based J-35A under construction at Shenyang, plus the first official video of the J-20’s 2011 maiden flight.
• J-35 chief designer Sun Cong says the naval jet uses a dual‑mode takeoff system for catapult or ski‑jump carriers, according to state media.
• A CCTV documentary describes pilot Li Chao intercepting two unidentified stealth aircraft in 2024, performing close‑in maneuvers and achieving radar locks before the opposing jets withdrew.
• The account has not been independently verified, and the program credits China’s integrated air‑defense and airborne early‑warning networks with detecting and tracking the aircraft.
• Analysts frame the disclosures within China’s rapid airpower modernization, with the Pentagon calling China the Indo‑Pacific’s largest aviation force and studies pointing to an intensifying capacity race.