At the Singapore Airshow this week, China staged a broad, market‑oriented exhibition of aerospace hardware that placed a model of the new J‑35A stealth multirole fighter at the centre of its display. The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) showed 26 types of aircraft ranging from heavy stealth fighters and export variants to a layered family of unmanned systems and specialised emergency‑response platforms. More than 30% of the items on display were debuting in Singapore, underscoring a push to translate recent technological advances into international sales and diplomatic influence.
The J‑35A—a next‑generation, medium‑class stealth fighter built with an integrated aerodynamic‑stealth design and marketed for air‑to‑air, air‑to‑ground and anti‑ship roles—dominated the stand alongside heavy stealth J‑20s and export‑oriented J‑10CEs. AVIC presented the lineup as a coherent air‑warfare ecosystem: frontline fighters, trainer and transport aircraft, rotary‑wing platforms, and a family of Wing Loong unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) spanning lightweight to larger, longer‑endurance models. The company emphasised interoperability and “package” solutions that can be tailored to different mission profiles and customer budgets.
The unmanned systems drew particular attention for their breadth rather than a single headline capability. The Wing Loong series now spans several sizes and mission sets—surveillance, strike and disaster response—allowing AVIC to pitch tiered operational concepts to smaller air forces that cannot afford or operate high-end manned stealth fleets. AVIC also displayed new rotary‑wing and amphibious platforms, including the AG600 amphibious aircraft and specialised emergency‑response variants such as rainmaking and medevac versions, emphasising dual‑use credentials that complicate strict military‑civil categorizations.
Showcasing export models such as the J‑10CE reiterates China’s ongoing strategy to win market share in the global defence market by offering turnkey, cost‑competitive systems and integrated logistical packages. The display at a neutral, regional venue like Singapore is politically significant: it is a sales pitch to countries in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America that are increasingly open to non‑Western suppliers. AVIC’s narrative is that sustained innovation plus field validation—its phrase for operational testing and export experience—reduces technical and operational risk for buyers.
For regional security observers, the exhibition is a reminder that Chinese aviation has moved from prototype demonstrations to an emphasis on systems and supply chains. The nimble mix of new manned fighters and a multi‑layered UAV fleet suggests Beijing is pursuing a distributed approach to air power: fewer extremely costly platforms and more combinations of affordable manned and unmanned assets that together complicate an adversary’s targeting and decision calculus. The prominence of emergency‑response hardware also serves a public‑diplomacy function, offering humanitarian cooperation as a sales channel.
The marketing narrative is not without limits. Advanced sensors, engines and certain high‑end electronic components remain chokepoints where Western export controls can bite, and prospective buyers will weigh political strings and interoperability with existing fleets. Nevertheless, the Singapore Airshow display shows AVIC is increasingly selling an operational concept rather than discrete airframes—an attractive proposition for militaries seeking rapid capability gains on constrained budgets.
In short, the event signalled China’s aviation industry is transitioning from demonstrating capability to packaging and selling comprehensive, layered air‑power solutions. That shift will matter for procurement decisions across the developing world, for alliance planners in the Asia‑Pacific, and for those tracking the diffusion of unmanned and dual‑use aviation technologies into new markets.