Recently released images show J-15s of one of the brigades attached to the Naval Aviation University practicing launch and recovery operations at an unspecified coastal base where a flight deck with jet blast deflectors and arresting wires has been set up.
Sometime between late November and early December 2024, a brigade with China’s Naval Aviation University conducted takeoff and landing training on J-15 fighters in an unnamed military airport “near the coast”. The particularity of this exercise was the use of a land-based simulated carrier deck, which included jet blast deflectors and arresting cables.
According to a translation of the article published on 81.cn, one of the PLA’s (People Liberation Army) official websites, the event was held to ‘hone strong skills’ and covered multiple aspects of launching and recovering aircraft on a carrier, such as equipment inspection, guided taxiing, and information relaying between different aircraft.
Furthermore, during the course, the brigade conducted a variety of exercises to test its airmen’s ability to handle both common and special situations involving the jets, and to comprehensively test their physical and psychological fitness, skills and combat styles. The report says that the officers and soldiers calmly and successfully completed the training tasks.
The operation was most likely intended to test the operational readiness of the crew, while also exposing the Naval Aviation University’s students to what an operational exercise may be like.
Dec. 17 — China PLA Naval Aviation University conducted field carrier takeoff and landing practice with J-15 carried-based fighter aircraft.
www.81.cn/yw_208727/16…
— Ryan Chan 陳家翹 (@kakiuchan.bsky.social) December 17, 2024 at 9:26 AM
The rest of the article describes the exercise itself. One part describes how the take-off was systematically conducted: as a command was given, several ‘Flying Sharks’ entered the simulated deck one by one, guided by a marshaller.
The shooter then signaled to the takeoff operator to raise the jet blast deflector and wheel’s stop chocks, which are hydraulically actuated and hold the aircraft still as it applies power before the launch. Then, officers and soldiers at each position cooperated to conduct a detailed inspection of both the launch systems and aircraft, before the shooter authorizes the launch, the wheel stops are lowered, and the aircraft starts accelerating on the runway.
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The landing sequence is also described in detail: the J-15 enters the simulated carrier’s holding pattern, before lowering the tail hook and slowly descending. As the rear wheels simultaneously touch down the deck, the tailhook firmly grabs the arresting cable and stops the jet steadily. The arresting cable pusher worked closely with the landing duty officer to quickly unhook and reset the arresting cable before the next fighter came in to land.
The J-15 series of aircraft
The J-15 Flying Shark, also known by its NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) reporting name Flanker-X2, is a carrier-based aircraft, whose first flight took place on Aug. 09, 2009. It is a twin-engine, single seat carrier-based fourth generation multirole fighter developed to serve on the PLAN’s (People’s Liberation Army Navy) first generation of aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong.
SAC (Shenyang Aircraft Company, the manufacturer of the J-15s and other Chinese Flanker derivatives) acquired T-10K-3, an early prototype of Russia’s Su-33 (formerly Su-27K) carrier based Flanker, from Ukraine in 2001. Because SAC comprehensively studied and reverse-engineered the aircraft, the J-15 is structurally very similar to the Su-33, which is similarly a single seater jet with canard foreplanes.
However, structural differences aside, the J-15 features plenty of indigenous Chinese technologies and avionics through the knowledge gained in SAC’s own endeavors, like the J-11B. For example, the J-15 uses a higher proportion of composite materials, compared to the Su-33, to reduce the aircraft’s weight, and also allowing in turn for a slower landing speed. The aircraft also includes the ability to field Chinese missiles like the PL-15.
Initially, the largest shortcomings of the J-15s were its reliance on ski-jumps to take off and its underpowered, Russian-made AL-31 engines. These issues were gradually dealt with, and the engines were gradually replaced by China’s own WS-10 engines. This transition made the J-15 the last aircraft in the PLA inventory to transition to indigenous engines, and marked the end of Russian engines’ usage in PLA service. However, this still didn’t fix the ski-jump issue.
The need for a CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take Off Barrier Arrested Recovery) capable fighter resulted in an almost entirely new design, with prototype airframes designated J-15Ts being produced. These were initially meant to be design demonstrators for a more advanced J-15 with an upgraded avionics suite, including an AESA (Actively Electronically Scanned Array) radar.
The prototypes utilized and integrated SAC’s experience with the J-11D, a cancelled, super-Flanker with an AESA radar and other advanced systems. In the end, production aircraft based on the prototype J-15Ts, which military watchers initially referred to as the J-15B, were also designated the J-15T.
The J-15T, touted as the world’s best flanker, made its public debut this year at the Zhuhai Airshow alongside its Electronic Warfare cousin, the J-15D. It introduces several revolutionary capabilities to the PLAN’s fighting force.
First and foremost, the ability to take off using a catapult, allowing for a larger payload and more fuel to be carried is its most obvious improvement over the legacy J-15 model. The improved avionics, featuring an AESA radar, also significantly increases the combat capability of the PLAN’s carrier air wing. The latter is also complemented by the introduction of buddy refueling pods, which for the first time allow the PLAN to refuel its own planes in the air while at sea.
The J-15T will enter service with the PLAN’s third carrier, the CATOBAR-equipped Fujian, which is currently undergoing testing, but has also already embarked on the Shandong and the Liaoning. This means that the J-15T is able to operate off both CATOBAR and STOBAR carriers. Notably, the Fujian returned from its fifth sea trials with rubber marks on its deck, signaling that an aircraft may have landed, or conducted a touch-and-go, on the carrier for the first time.
