The five highlights from this year’s Zhuhai Airshow

On Tuesday, military and aviation buffs from around the world tuned into the Zhuhai Airshow as China’s aerospace and defence manufacturers showcased their latest gadgets.

But if there’s one thing we know about these kinds of events, you’ve gotta avoid getting sidetracked by the flyovers and gift bags. So here are five highlights you should know:

1. J-35A stealth fighter jet 

The topic on everyone’s lips was China’s new stealth fighter jet, which made its debut on opening day (Tuesday) by performing a series of sweet sweet stunts. There’s much we still don’t know about the J-35A, but it seems to have air-to-surface and air-to-air strike capabilities, plus there’s a J-35 variant that seems able to take off from aircraft carriers.

The J-35 also looks familiar. And that’s revived a big debate around the extent to which the J-35 is a carbon copy of America’s F-35. While China has of course made its own advancements, a Los Angeles court already sent a guy to prison for his role in stealing terabytes of F-35 data for Beijing. And you can see the result in the J-35’s external features, which reflect stealth tech design choices first pioneered in the US.

The J-35 also sounds familiar (J-35 vs F-35); while its initial name was different, this newer label and marketing (the US pitched F-35 as a ‘quarterback’, while China now pitches the J-35 as a ‘point guard’) now aims to send a signal, both to Beijing and prospective buyers abroad: we’re hit parity with the US. But only time will tell how much this signalling matches reality — there’s no sign yet, for example, of a hover mode.

2. Hypersonic weapons

Meanwhile, the hypersonic debate is a little clearer: China leads the world in developing, testing, and deploying hypersonics. They’re basically capable of travelling several times the speed of sound, making them harder to hit with existing air defence systems.

Russia has used its Kinzhal variant against Ukrainian cities (though there are doubts around its claimed speeds), and the US hasn’t yet revealed a hypersonic capability. Meanwhile, China just unveiled its latest concept called the GDF-600, a hypersonic boost-glide weapon developed by its Guangdong Aerodynamic Research Academy.

Basically, it aims to carry multiple mini-weapons (including more missiles and drones) which it can then deploy as it approaches a target (at Mach 7) — it’s just a concept at this stage, as deploying munitions at hypersonic speeds faces several technical barriers.

3. Russia and Saudi Arabia were there too

The Russians were there, showing off their own latest 5th generation stealth jet, the Sukhoi Su-57. Moscow only has maybe a dozen in service (for comparison, the US has 186 of its equivalent Raptor, and ~700 F-35s). These Russian jets are costly and slow to produce, and that’s all made worse by Western sanctions. These days, Russia has been losing fighter jets to Ukraine faster than it can replace them.

So Moscow has tried to keep its fancy Su-57s out of harm’s way, partly scared that their failure in Ukraine will harm export sales (as we’ve seen with other Russian systems). But even this week’s softball appearance in China hasn’t helped — China’s social media quickly blew up with photos of the Su-57’s shoddy workmanship.

Oh, and the Saudis were there too, signalling (like the Russians) their close ties with China, which is only too happy to host one of the world’s biggest potential customers.

4. A glimpse of China’s next fighter jet?

Much like Netflix already starting work on season 3 of The Diplomat before season 2 even dropped, China’s engineers already started working on the ‘White Emperor’ before the above J-35 even dropped. The White Emperor is being designed with all sorts of sci-fi capabilities, including breaking through the Earth’s atmosphere and operating in space.  

But the only thing we’ve seen is a mock-up at this year’s airshow, so it’s too early to tell how much is real, and how much is PR to wow onlookers, impress friends, and rattle rivals.

5. A flying car?

This one is less about China’s military capabilities, and more about what happens when your engineers get hold of too much cash. The XPENG Land Aircraft Carrier (dubbed the flying car) is a boxy ‘family multi-seater meets cyber truck’ contraption that carries around a small helicopter in its trunk, which you can then fly pretty much anywhere. Stuck in traffic? Just hop in this roflcopter and off you go.

Does it solve a pressing problem? No. Is it fun? Yes. 

INTRIGUE’S TAKE

Theodore Roosevelt said he was quoting a West African proverb when he famously urged the US to “speak softly and carry a big stick”. Today we’ve focused on the ‘stick’ bit, not for the lulz, but because it’s partly what makes others listen to the speaking bit.

Of course, the causality works the other way, too: it was General Mattis who famously told Congress, “if you don’t fully fund the State Department, please buy a little more ammunition for me because I’m going to need it”.

But it’s yet another general (Joe Dunford) whose quote really comes to mind today: “US troops should not be sent into a fair fight”. He was talking about the way US military superiority ought to (in theory at least) end conventional wars before they even start.

And that’s maybe the point today: it doesn’t really matter exactly how China’s J-35 compares with America’s F-35. Rather, it’s about whether China is closing the capability gap. Because that’s what raises doubts in DC, which in turn shapes US decisions.

Also worth noting: 

• China is the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter (after the US still at #1).
• Senator Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, just released a new report tracking China’s efforts to close (and even surpass in some cases) the technological gap with the US.