J-15 Flying Shark revealed as ‘cousin’ of Russian warplane
Only PLA carrier-based fighter jet in service is descended from Soviet design, documentary says
A new CCTV documentary has shed light on the origins of the J-15 Flying Shark, China’s only carrier-based fighter jet in service, revealing the plane largely descends from a Soviet design.
The J-15, which debuted a decade ago, was derived from China’s J-11B fighter jet, a modified variant of the Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-27, according to the state broadcaster.
The Flying Shark, the world’s heaviest ship-borne aircraft, is powered by two domestically developed WS-10C Taihang engines, according to earlier state media reports. The documentary, which aired on Tuesday, said the engine was intended to boost landing safety.
“The installation of the WS-10C engine in the J-15 means mass production of the shipborne aircraft began a while ago,” a military insider said.
The insider said the J-15 would remain the key combat plane for China’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, as the J-15T variety of the jet was designed to work with the carrier’s cutting-edge electromagnetic catapult system. The insider said Beijing invested heavily in setting up world-class production lines to speed up delivery of J-11B and J-15 fighter jets in the early 2010s.
The J-15 was upgraded with advanced flight control and radar systems, a pair of additional small front wings and other modifications, allowing it to make emergency landings on the carrier deck and enhance its balance and manoeuvrability, aircraft designers told CCTV.
China’s ship-borne aircraft project lagged behind its aircraft carrier development. The Chinese navy considered buying Russia’s ready-made Su-33 fighter jet after Beijing bought its first aircraft carrier, the Soviet-designed Liaoning, from a Ukraine shipyard in 1998. However, Chinese naval leaders decided in 2009 to use the country’s active fighter jets as the inspiration for the J-15, rather than looking to Russian models, CCTV said.
Top leadership at the Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute (SADRI) gave a mandatory catch-up order to thousands of staff, and the company spent just three years completing the project, CCTV reported. A prototype of the J-15 made its first successful take-off and landing on the deck of the Liaoning on December 23, 2012.
The decision to base the Flying Shark’s design on the J-11B was made in the aftermath of an unsuccessful deal between Beijing and Moscow over the purchase of the Su-33.
News reports said the deal failed because China rejected Moscow’s demand that it buy at least 50 of the Russian fighter jets. Meanwhile, Moscow was unhappy about SADRI’s plan to develop the J-11B, which it alleged involved violation of intellectual property agreements related to the Sukhoi Su-27, according to Russian media.
Because the retired Su-33 was derived from the Su-27, the original model for the J-11B, the J-15 is a “cousin” of the Sukhoi fighter jets, Chinese defence experts said.
“We can’t disavow the ‘cousinship’ between the J-15 and Su-33, even though the Chinese aircraft is much more advanced than its Russian ‘cousin’, just like the J-11B is more excellent than the Su-27,” said Li Jie, a Beijing-based naval expert.
We can’t disavow the ‘cousinship’ between the J-15 and Su-33
LI JIE, A BEIJING-BASED NAVAL EXPERT