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Author of this article - Chi Huo | Professional writer for the magazine "Space Exploration"

In recent years, it's not uncommon for foreign peers to measure Chinese new energy vehicles with a tape measure at overseas auto exhibitions, which indicates the strength of China's automotive industry, and its level has become so high that foreign peers come to "learn from" it;

However, it's the first time that advanced Chinese fighter jet models have been measured with a tape measure by American defense industry executives at an overseas airshow.

This scene took place at the 10th Singapore Air Show:

The People's Liberation Army Eight One Flight Performance Team conducted a flight display with the J-10 fighter jet, and the Chinese delegation also showcased various new weapons models, including a large-scale scale model of the J-35 fighter jet.

The person who became a "tape measure enthusiast" was Palmer Luckey, one of the founders of the American new defense company Anduril Industries. He himself posted photos on social media of him measuring the tail section of the J-35 fighter jet model with a tape measure, and made a comment saying "I don't believe the J-35 can match the real thing".

(Anduril Company's booth at the Paris Air Show)

Palmer Luckey is one of the representatives of the new U.S. defense industry, has a good relationship with Musk, and has significant common interests in the U.S. technology and defense sectors, so his behavior style is similar to Musk - being flamboyant, liking to make eye-catching comments online.

If SpaceX is the top enterprise in the new defense industry, and Musk is the top figure, then Palmer Luckey is undoubtedly the second-largest giant in the new defense industry. The valuation of the company he founded has reached $30.5 billion, providing the U.S. military with a large number of new drones and network products, and also taking over the U.S. Army's $2 billion IVAS project from Microsoft.

(At the Singapore Air Show, Palmer Luckey of Anduril Industries became a "tape measure enthusiast")

His post received a lot of mockery on social media, of course, there were also people playing "American victory studies". The key point is that measuring a scale model of an aircraft is meaningless because the real aircraft is probably different from the model.

But Palmer Luckey clearly wasn't after intelligence. There was a reason for his strange attitude and absurd remarks.

In 2024 and 2025, the Chinese government imposed several sanctions on U.S. defense companies and senior officials, two of which involved Anduril Industries, and Palmer Luckey himself was on the sanction list, because the company sold hundreds of small suicide drones to Taiwan, and he personally went to Taiwan, not only met with the head of the Taiwan Defense Department Gu Li-xiong, but also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Taiwan's Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, and announced that Anduril Industries would set up a permanent office in Taiwan.

It can be seen that he is determined to get the "protection money" from the Taiwan authorities, so his attitude towards the mainland is predictable.

(The J-35 fighter jet was officially revealed during the September 3rd parade last year and has won many foreign fans around the world)

He said "I don't believe the J-35 can match the real thing," which is meant to belittle the J-35, and the so-called "real thing" is none other than the U.S. F-35 series fighter jets.

However, since the J-35 and J-35A were officially unveiled at the September 3rd parade last year, followed by the successful catapult takeoff of the J-35 on the Fujian aircraft carrier's electromagnetic catapult, and the performance indicators of the J-35 engine revealed at this Singapore Air Show, all indicate that the performance of the J-35 may surpass the F-35.

He said "I don't believe," because on U.S. social media and military forums, many U.S. netizens believe the J-35 is superior to the F-35.

(U.S. military fans gave the F-35 the nickname "Fat Amy", and the J-35 the nickname "Slim Amy")

Looking at the appearance alone, the single-engine F-35 is too bulky, while the dual-engine J-35 is much slimmer and has a more perfect aerodynamic shape.

Many U.S. netizens gave the F-35 the nickname "Fat Amy" (Fat Amy), and correspondingly gave the J-35 the nickname "Slim Amy" (Slim Amy), which shows the difference. The bulky body of the F-35 indicates a larger air resistance and worse maneuverability, while the J-35 has been optimized, and its maneuverability and speed are certainly better, and it may even have the capability of supersonic cruise.

Many U.S. netizens believe that the dual-engine J-35 is the ideal choice for the U.S. Navy's stealth carrier aircraft, because the risk of taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier and operating at sea is very high, and a dual-engine provides higher reliability. If one engine fails, the plane can still return or land on the carrier, while the single-engine F-35, if the engine fails, will basically only crash.

Both the British Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy have had F-35 fighter jet crashes, which partially illustrates this point. The U.S. Navy has only purchased dozens of F-35C, which also proves their dissatisfaction with the F-35C.

(The J-35 fighter jet took off from the electromagnetic catapult of the Fujian aircraft carrier, while the U.S. Navy's Ford-class carrier has not yet been able to catapult the F-35C)

Another surprise at this Singapore Air Show was that in a brochure distributed by the organizer, it stated that the J-35 fighter jet is equipped with the WS-19 engine, which has a maximum thrust of 25,000 to 26,000 pounds, equivalent to 11.3-11.8 tons. If this data is true, it marks that China has reached the top level in the field of small bypass ratio medium-thrust engines.

By comparison, the maximum thrust of the EJ-200 engine from European Rolls-Royce is only 9.1 tons, and the latest F414EDE engine from American GE has a maximum thrust of about 12 tons, which is the global top level. The WS-19 is very close to it, and it is not ruled out that the improved version of the WS-19 could surpass the F414EDE.

This means that the dual-engine J-35 can achieve a maximum thrust of about 23 tons, while the F135-PW-100 or F135-PW-400 engines of the F-35A/C have a maximum thrust of 191.3 kN (about 19.5 tons). If the data provided by the organizer of the Singapore Air Show is accurate, then it is inevitable that the flight performance of the J-35 exceeds the F-35.

(Introduction of the thrust of the WS-19 engine in the promotional brochure provided by the organizer of the Singapore Air Show)

The stealth performance and situational awareness of the J-35 will not be worse than the F-35. The only weakness is that the internal weapon bay space may be smaller than the F-35, making it unable to accommodate larger weapons. Therefore, it is speculated that the J-35 mainly focuses on air-to-air missions, while the F-35 is more focused on ground attack.

Regardless, the fact that the Chinese delegation dared to place the model of the J-35 at the Singapore Air Show represents our confidence and the possibility of future exports. No matter how much Palmer Luckey "complains", it cannot change the fact that China's military aviation industry has already surpassed the United States. Think about the two sixth-generation fighters we are currently testing, while the U.S. sixth-generation fighters are still on PPTs and dare not show up. The gap between the U.S. and China in the fighter jet field is getting bigger and bigger.

(The times have changed)

Original: toutiao.com/article/7603971586173878803/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author."