Photos show second China stealth fighter prototype

BEIJING (AP) - China's second model of prototype stealth fighter has undergone a test flight, according to aviation experts.

Photos posted on the Internet on Thursday showed the radar-avoiding aircraft airborne near the north-eastern city of Shenyang with its landing gear still down.

Mr Ross Babbage of Australia's Kokoda Foundation and Mr Greg Waldron of Flightglobal magazine in Singapore said the plane - known as the J-31 - appeared to be a smaller version of the J-20 prototype that was tested last year in the south-western city of Chengdu.

Experts said both planes featured stealth design features, but their true capabilities in terms of sensors, radar-absorbing coatings, and other key factors remained unknown.