Comparing China’s new J-15 with the F/A-18E/F as the ideal carrier aircraft

Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (a.k.a. “the Chinese Navy”) recently commented that the Shenyang J-15 is better than the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in terms of air-to-air combat, but slightly inferior with regard to engaging surface targets.

In terms of its performance compared to other carrier-based aircraft in service around the world, Yin Zhuo said that the J-15 capabilities are high. For instance, it reaches a similar level to the U.S. F/A-18C/D “Super Hornet”. While overall it is slightly inferior to the F/A-18E/F, it has better performance in air combat. Its ability to attack land and sea-based targets is lower than the F/A-18E/F, but it is at least equal to, and perhaps slightly better than, India’s Mig-29K.

Aviation analyst Andrei Pinkov gave a comparative analysis of the J-15 and the F/A-18:

“The orientation of F/A-18E/F is a fighter attacker, so that its maneuvering is not so good as the J-15, which derives from an air control fighter. This means that the J-15 is more likely to shoot down F/A-18E/F in close combat,” says Pinkov. “However, the ‘Super Hornet’ is able to take off with the assistance of catapult, so that its real payload is likely to exceed that of J-15, which takes off by means of ski-jump. Thus the U.S. fighter has advantages in terms of attack and combat radius.”

During 2013, the J-15 has made a series of test flights from China’s new aircraft carrier the ‘Liaoning’ as both the aircraft and carrier work-up to operational status. RAdm Yin Zhuo refused to confirm that the J-15 was already in mass production, but commented that online speculation is logical based on the facts that J-15 is already in service, and its technology is mature enough for mass production.

Yin Zhuo said that the full service life of the J-15 would be about 25 to 30 years. The fact that the J-15 and its variants are now regularly seen in flight, and taking off and landing on aircraft carriers, indicates that it will not be subject to any further major modifications. Once mass production is under way the aircraft design will be fixed other than in terms of possible changes to radar and electronic communication systems, or modernization of the engine after 10 to 15 years of service. However, the profile, basic finish, and performance standards of the aircraft have been established.

J-15 tied down on flight deck.

When

China’s Shenyang J-15 painted in “sea gray” with PLANAF insignia

Courtesy of the Communist Party newspaper China Peoples Daily, a photograph of the production model of the Shenyang J-15 painted in “sea gray” with PLANAF insignia. The J-15 will be based on the PLAN aircraft carrier Liaoning.

尹卓:歼-15舰载机换海军涂装说明已服役 可进行量产

从央视新闻画面，我们可以看到歼-15战斗机量产型采用标准的海军灰蓝色涂装，座舱后部涂装有海军军旗。

人民网北京9月4日电 （记者 黄子娟）近日，很多眼尖的军迷发现，在央视新闻报道画面中，显示歼-15涂着海灰色涂装，座舱后侧下方还喷绘着一面解放军海军旗。坊间纷纷猜测，或许这正是已经下线的歼-15量产型。军事专家尹卓在接受央视采访时表示，歼15着海军涂装表明已经服役，其技术成熟可以进行量产。

歼-15(代号飞鲨；英文为J-15)为重型舰载战斗机，是沈飞在国产歼-11战斗机的基础上研发而成。

2009年8月，歼-15进行了首次试飞。去年11月5日，《解放军报》头版正式发布了中国航母舰载机触舰起飞的消息。去年11月25日，随着飞行员戴明盟驾驶编号为552的歼-15在“辽宁”号上成功着舰并起飞，“飞鲨”终于揭开神秘的面纱。

今年，“辽宁”号多次出海进行了科研试验和训练，并在渤海进行了歼-15的多批次起降飞行训练。据报道，不久还将进行危险的带弹滑跃起飞训练。

很多眼尖的军迷都发现，在央视新闻节目9月1日的报道中，有一个画面，显示歼-15涂着海灰色涂装，机头雷达整流罩则呈深灰色，座舱后侧下方还喷绘着一面解放军海军旗。坊间纷纷猜测，或许这正是已经下线的“飞鲨”量产型。进入量产阶段，飞机的设计图便已冻结，各项性能参数已经确定，是战斗机投入使用的重要标志。

谈到歼-15是否已经量产时，尹卓表示，目前尚没有任何官方消息证实，从分析的角度看，首先歼15着海军涂装，说明它已经正式服役。之前我们看到连续5架在辽宁舰着舰的飞机都是黄色，那代表是试验机，属于在研制的过程中，还没有定型。定型以后，交付到海军，一定是作战飞机，就改成海军涂装了。

尹卓说，从歼15已经服役分析，说明其技术已经成熟，表明可以进行量产，所以网友们的推测是符合逻辑的。

http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0904/c1011-22802086.html

China will build aircraft carriers, increase naval strength

China likely has 2 design concepts from Navantia, stemming from 1990s negotiations and exchange of payments with Empresa Nacional Bazan, which would allow for construction of carriers similar to the Spanish Príncipe de Asturias-class. Between 2007-09, China acquired 4 additional design plans from Russian yards which may augur a nuclear-powered carrier, similar to the US Nimitz or Ford classes, which would mirror current Russian Navy requirements.

China to have more aircraft carriers: ministry spokesman

BEIJING, Aug. 29 — The Liaoning is the Chinese military’s first aircraft carrier, but there will surely be more in future, a Ministry of National Defence spokesman said on Thursday.

China will comprehensively consider the development of aircraft carriers in accordance with the needs of national defense and military building, spokesman Yang Yujun said.

Yang made the comment at a news briefing when asked to confirm media reports that China is producing its first domestically made aircraft carrier.

Currently, China operates one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which was refitted based on an unfinished Russian-made carrier and delivered to the Chinese Navy on Sept. 25, 2012.

The carrier’s original design allows it to carry about 30 fixed-wing aircraft.

The Liaoning has conducted successful take-off and landing tests of its carrier-borne J-15 fighters, the main strike force of China’s carrier group.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90786/8382896.html

The world’s largest and most powerful destroyers and aircraft carriers

In light of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force launching the “flat top destroyer” Izumo, the Telegraph has produced as list of the world’s largest and most powerful destroyers and aircraft carriers.

Izumo-class destroyer Officially labelled as a destroyer, it will have a flat top that will function as a flight deck for helicopters. The vessel has been criticised as a thinly veiled attempt to boost the country’s military capabilities. Currently Japan is limited by its constitution to self-defence only, but rising tensions with China has led to fears of an escalation of a dispute over island. Japanese officials have insisted the ship will be used to assist humanitarian missions and large scale evacuations following events like the 2011 tsunami. The vessel has not been officially named but it has been dubbed Izumo after the armoured cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was sunk in an air attack in 1945.
Operated by: Japanese Navy
Number in fleet: 1 with two more planned
Length: 820ft
Displacement: 27,000 tons Maximum speed: 30 knots
Crew: 970 Weapons: 14 helicopters and anti-submarine warfare
Picture: AP Photo/Kyodo News

Yamato-class battleship
Although currently resting on the bottom of the ocean off the south of Kyushu, Japan, the Yamato is the biggest battleship ever built and dwarves Japan’s new Izumo destroyer. Commissioned just a week after the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, she was the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet. She only ever fired her massive main guns in one battle at enemy surface targets in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944. She was eventually sunk in 1945 after being attacked by US aircraft.
Operated by: Japanese Combined Fleet
Number in fleet: 2
Length: 862ft
Displacement: 70,000 tons
Maximum speed: 27 knots
Crew: 2,332
Weapons: 9 x 46cm guns, 12 x 155mm guns and 12 x 127mm guns. Seven aircraft

Nimitz-Class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
Currently the biggest warship in operation in the world. Capable of operating for over 20 years without being refuelled, the aircraft carriers are expected to have a service life of over 50 years. The first in the class, the Nimitz became mired in controversy shortly after entering service when following a fatal aircraft crash on deck, a forensic investigation revealed some of the personnel involved tested positive for marijuana. This led to the mandatory drug testing of all service personnel. Commissioned in 1975, the Nimitz-class vessels are due to be replaced by the even bigger Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier in around 2015.
Operated by: United States Navy
Number in fleet: 10
Length: 1092ft
Displacement: 100,000 tons
Maximum speed: 30 knots
Crew: 5,000
Weapons: 85-90 bomber/fighter aircraft, missile defence systems
Picture: AP

Admiral Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier
This beast was originally commissioned in 1990 as the flagship for the Soviet Navy in 1985 and has gone through a number of refits. She was due to have a sister ship called Varyag, but it was never completed. Instead the Ukraine, where the vessel was being built, sold the hull to China, who completed it themselves.
Operated by: Russian Navy
Number in fleet: 1
Length: 1,001ft
Displacement: 55,000 tons
Maximum speed: 29 knots
Crew: 2,356
Weapons: 52 aircraft, 60 rockets and 192 missiles
Picture: Royal Navy

Liaoning aircraft carrier
Purchased by the People’s Republic of China at an auction, this is the aircraft carrier the Varyag should have been. She was sold in 1998 under the pretext that it would be used a floating casino – many other former Soviet carriers have ended up as theme parks. Lacking engines, a rudder and operating systems, the Varyag was towed to a navy shipyard where it was given a refit, renamed the Liaoning and entered service in 2012.
Operated by: People’s Liberation Army Navy
Number in fleet: 1
Length: 999ft
Displacement: 66,000 tons
Maximum speed: 32 knots
Crew: 2,626
Weapons: 30 aircraft, 24 helicopters, 60 rockets and 192 missiles
Picture: AFP/GettyImages

INS Vikramaditya
This is another former Soviet vessel that has found a new life. After being decommissioned by the Russian Navy in 1996 for being too expensive to operate, it was purchased by India for around £1.5 billion and was given a refit. Having completed sea trails it is due to enter service in October this year. It is named after a 1st century BC emperor of Ujjain, India. As part of the refit she now has accommodation for 10 female officers and has been fitted with a water desalination plant.
Operated by: Indian Navy
Number in fleet: 1
Length: 928ft
Displacement: 45,400 tons
Maximum speed: 32 knots
Crew: 1,400
Weapons: 16 aircraft, 10 helicopters
Picture: Wikipedia/Sevmash shipyard/Alexey Popov

Charles de Gaulle nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
Named after the famous French leader, this is the largest warship in Western Europe and the only nuclear powered surface vessel outside of the United States. Following successful sea trials, she is due to enter active service later in 2013. During the vessel’s construction in 1993, it was claimed that a group of visiting engineers were British MI6 agents attempting to learn the technical details. The Guardian, which published the story, later published a denial from both the British and French governments that there been an incident.
Operated by: French Navy, Marine Nationale
Number in fleet: 1
Length: 858ft
Displacement: 42,000 tons
Maximum speed: 32 knots
Crew: 1,950
Weapons: 40 aircraft, missile defence systems
Picture: AP Photo/Franck Prevel

Wasp Class amphibious assault ship
Essentially a giant floating helicopter platform, one of these vessels is capable of transporting almost the entire US Marine Corp’s quick reaction Marine Expeditionary Unit. It has two folding aircraft elevators on the outside that move between the hanger and flight deck, which can fold inwards to allow the vessel to pass through the Panama Canal.
Operated by: United States Navy
Number in fleet: 8
Length: 831ft
Displacement: 40,500 tons
Maximum speed: 22 knots
Crew: 1,208 crew and 1,894 Marines
Weapons: 6 vertical take off aircraft, 24 helicopters, missile defence systems
Picture: AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

Invincible class aircraft carrier
Although far down the list in terms of the world’s biggest warships, this is the Royal Navy’s largest currently in operation. Brazil, Italy and Spain all have larger aircraft carriers, but when the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier comes into service in 2018, it will leave Britain with the second biggest warship in the world, behind the US.
Operated by: Royal Navy of Great Britain
Number in fleet: 3
Length: 686ft
Displacement: 22,000 tons
Maximum speed: 28 knots
Crew: 1000 crew and 500 marines
Weapons: 22 aircraft and anti missile systems
Picture: Royal Navy

Sejong the Great class destroyer
Possibly the best named class of ship in operation at the moment and the biggest destroyer after the new Izumo class, it is named after the fourth king in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, who is credited with creating the Korean alphabet. These guided missile destroyers are the biggest of their kind in operation in the world at the moment, but are set to be out-classed by the US Navy’s new Zumwalt-class stealth destroyer, which will use electric motors and carry advanced weaponry, when it completed sometime in 2015.
Operated by: Republic of Korea Navy
Number in fleet: 3
Length: 541ft
Displacement: 11,000 tons
Maximum speed: 30+ knots
Crew: 400
Weapons: 1 5 inch naval gun, 16 anti-ship missiles, 32 cruise missiles and 6 torpedoes. Two helicopters
Picture: US Navy

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/10228104/The-worlds-largest-and-most-powerful-destroyers-and-aircraft-carriers.html

First Chinese naval aviators receive carrier certification

Two great leaps forward for the Chinese Navy as (1) the first Chinese Shenyang J-15 pilots receive carrier certification and (2) the first Chinese aircraft carrier moves closer to operational deployment.

China’s carrier-borne jet pilots receive certification

J-15, China’s first-generation multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet (People’s Daily/Li Tang)

BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) — China’s first group of five pilots and landing signal officers received their certifications in the latest sea trials of the Liaoning, the country’s first aircraft carrier.The Liaoning finished its 25-day test and training mission on Wednesday and returned to a navy port in the east China city of Qingdao. During the training, pilots executed several continuous take-off and landing exercises, making China one of the few countries in the world that can train its own carrier-borne jet pilots.

Using the J-15, China’s first-generation multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet, pilots finished China’s first training mission stationed aboard the carrier as well as the first 105-meter short-distance ski-jump takeoff exercises, an important breakthrough in the sea trials.

Pilots and landing signal officers were tested on a range of skills. They passed the certification process following expert reviews and a flight data assessment.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy also performed exercises related to the carrier’s operations, system guarantees and logistics. Based on the smooth operation of staff, jet fighters and the carrier, as well as the sound cooperation between fighters and the carrier, the Liaoning is now considered capable of carrying carrier-borne jet fighters.

Zhang Yongyi, deputy commander of the PLA Navy and commander-in-chief of the aircraft carrier tests and sea trials, said these results show that China has fully mastered the skills needed for taking off from, and landing on, the aircraft carrier and that it has successfully established a training system for carrier-borne jet pilots.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90786/8310416.html