Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark

[MigBuster 2,884]

Could the Chinese media be as clueless as everyone else's per chance!

 

 

 

Even if some analysts compared it to the F/A-18 Hornet, the Shenyang J-15 “Flying Shark” may not be the powerful and deadly threat to the U.S. Navy Air Power in the Pacific.

Indeed, in spite of the recent claims that it had succesfully achieved full-load take off and landing on the Liaoning aircraft carrier, the China’s embarked plane may not be able to operate from Beijing’s first supercarrier.

According to the Sina Military Network, that has (weirdly) criticized the Flyng Shark calling it a “flopping fish”, the recent tests with heavy weapons have limited the attack range of the J-15 to a distance of 120 kilometers from the carrier: whilst it is said to be capable to carry 12 tons of weapons, when the aircraft is fully loaded with fuel, it can’t carry more than 2 tons of missiles and munitions, meaning that only two YJ-83K anti-ship missiles and two PL-8 air-to-air missiles could be carried (in an anti-ship configuration).

People’s Liberation Army Navy’s next generation carriers will have electromagnetic catapults that will safely launch heavy J-15s. The problem is the ski-jump ramp of the current, only PLA Navy aircraft carrier, that makes take off of aircraft exceeding 26 tons of total weight extremely difficult unless you have a more powerful aircraft, as the Mig-29K.

That’s why a lone Soviet aircraft carrier with ski-jump is no match for a U.S. flattop. And a J-15 carrying only handful of medium and short range air-to-air missiles in air defense configuration to be able to launch for Liaoning would probably be no match for U.S. carrier-based F/A-18E/F Hornet.

 

http://theaviationist.com/2013/09/30/j-15-critics/

Edited October 4, 2013 by MigBuster

[JediMaster 451]

See? They're a lot like us.

[Stratos 3,191]

I tought that was a Trainer aircraft Carrier, just to learn how to operate the planes and ships, win confidence... nothing serious. until they can get a new "big" carrier.

[Caesar 305]

Saw this in Defense News, and I was really glad when I did because we are constantly hearing about what a big threat naval versions of aircraft like the Flanker are going to be, how they're gonna out-fly or outfight our aircraft, which I eschew to begin with, and then a report comes out stating "well, it WOULD be able to do those things if it weren't limited to four missiles and a dismal range!"  As it is mentioned late in the article, once the Chinese build a CATOBAR carrier, their J-15 is going to be a lot more capable, but until then the J-15's power projection capability is going to be piss-poor at best.

[SayethWhaaaa 245]

Except there are two slight issues here. Firstly, the Liaoning is projected to enter service, it's not expected to be a fully operational carrier, simply, because what the PLAN want in a capability, the Liaoning isn't going to provide. It'll be used primarily for developing a robust carrier operations program, to fly the flag, and essentially, to look good. The last is mainly for the public, the media, and international attention. People (when I say people, I mean media agencies) will make cursory comparisons to the contemporary model Mig-29s and Su-27/35s, and like all cursory comparisons, they'll be based more on impression, not detail. It's the next series of carriers that'll be the yardstick. They're supposed to utilise a combination of ski-jump and catapult capability, and the J-15 is supposedly being designed with this in mind. Whether or not the new series will just be a relative copy of the Kuznetsov class produced with modern manufacturing improvements, or whether it's a completely new, larger carrier designed from the ground up is the $64 million dollar question. Either way, the J-15 that operates from that, will markedly different from this one, even if it the current model more closely resembles a navalised J-11B than a more advanced Su-33.

And secondly, it's not weird that that website criticised the J-15 at all. It's a Taiwanese media outlet. Need I say more...?

Edited October 7, 2013 by SayWhatt

[Boresight 51]

Nice article. Some aspects:

 

First, liked to see that the MiG-29's end appears to be not so close, as the K version is planned to enter service on Russia and India's navy.

 

Second, although the Chinese efforts to modernize its military industry are highly notable, one can't help to notice that, it's also in a controverse and polemic fashion, i.e. the typical shameless, all the way copy, of foreign products.

 

Some might argue for instance, that actually, the Su-27 airframe plans were integrally bought from the Russian. However the Russians also claim that a number of other components were illegally copied along the time.

( Not to mention their J-31 fighter's airframe is a major copy of the F-35 / F-22 designs - and they didn't pay any royalties to any US manufacturer, that I'm aware of. )

 

Either way, although their J-11 and J-15 aircraft aren't with full potential yet, they do represent a rapid and serious increase of Chinese military capabilities.

[SayethWhaaaa 245]

Interesting that there's still no mention of the navalised J-10 though. When snaps of the J-10B were released, there sightings of a J-10 with a striped arrestor hook also. But there's almost nothing about it online...

[JediMaster 451]

Perhaps beefing it up for carrier ops was more trouble than it was worth. Like the carrier Su-25.

[SayethWhaaaa 245]

When has 'more trouble than it's worth' ever stopped China?

[Atreides 144]

The J-15 is garbage !  It doesn't have DSI like the mighty JF-17.  Any aircraft without DSI is an inferior airframe.  (Stab at Sino defence)