SinoDefence Forum

plawolf

That picture seems awefully suspect to me. Notice the windows on the side on the building and how thin the ceiling must be based on that? I'm not convinced such a thin ceiling can sustain a 20t Flanker, never mind the stress of one simulating a carrier landing.

latenlazy

Might be reinforced inside, or they're only doing takeoff tests right now.

Maggern

I don't think the roof is even big enough to handle takeoffs and landings. I think it's all mockup, including the fighter. You don't need the actual weight of the fighter to simulate the logistics (?) of flight deck operations.

PS: The windows might be fake. They may be there just to make the whole thing less conspicuous. They don't say anything of what's actually is inside. The roof might be five stories thick, for all we know...

maozedong

this place is China Ship Design Institute (701), in Wuhan.

Intrepid

Looks like Chinese carrier development stands on a very wide base. A building with offices and laboratories I think and a roof like a carrier deck, funny! And a test facility for modern radars, may be.

Deino

Seems as if these pictures above were actually older !

Here are more recent ones ....

Attached Images

	Wuhan carrier mock-up 11.10.09 - 01.jpg (41.2 KB, 108 views)
	Wuhan carrier mock-up 11.10.09 - 02.jpg (28.0 KB, 74 views)
	Wuhan carrier mock-up 11.10.09 - 03.jpg (37.2 KB, 78 views)
	Wuhan carrier mock-up 11.10.09 - 05.jpg (24.5 KB, 93 views)
	Wuhan carrier mock-up 11.10.09 - 06 J-15.jpg (24.5 KB, 109 views)

Deino

...and here one more from August !!

Attached Images

Wuhan carrier mock-up 24.08.09 - u.c.jpg (101.2 KB, 110 views)

kroko

hhmm...which of this pictures is more recent? actually the tower in the august picture seems smaller then the others, and back with old paint. the tower in the first pictures of deino seem the most complete.

Vlad Plasmius

True, but then it does limit how much training they need on the actual carrier.

The Russians would be the most logical fit since their carrier is the sister ship of Varyag. Though I'm not sure there'd be any real need for it.

Roger604

It looks like it has no canards (maybe has LERX instead?) and the proportions are slightly different compared to regular flanker. The hump does seem kind of wider.

From looking at these photos it is clear that Gao Shan's PS work is "prophetic" as usual.

tphuang

Latest pictures of the Varyag's island. Someone posted it to compare it against what is on the roof. Especially, the surfaces where 052C APAR might land on are focused into.

latenlazy

I'm pretty sure it has canards. If you'll look at this image you'll notice the shadow created by a wing section pushing out the tarp.

Lundblad.Jeff

I don't think these are fake. Just like the J-10B photos when they first came out. We are getting lots of photos, all from different angles and different times, thats impossible to accurately replicate on photoshop.

Whether that is a real plane or not...I don't know.

I think it has canards also.

Edit: I've been looking at it more closely and I have noticed that the engines do not seem to be either the WS-10a or AL-31F (that is, of course, assuming that they are real engines). Also, It's hard to see, but this plane does not look like an Su-33, the fuselage is has a large "hump" that appears to extend higher and wider than the Su-33. Also, the nose is longer a thinner. The shape closely resembles an Su-34.



See the piller separating the two halves of cockpit running down the planes spine?

Look at the picture below, looks like it has that same feature where the cockpit begins.

latenlazy

I think you're just getting it confused with the shadow from the tarp.

On the other hand it's hard to tell what the engines are because the picture is so blurry and the angle is bad. After all we can only tell what the engines are from the shroud and a posterior view is not the best way to see that.

Lundblad.Jeff

It's probably the tarp, just looks a little "off" to me. They are probably trying to hide it from view and confuse onlookers like ourselves. Still, doesn't look like an entirely Su-33-derived craft to me.