We don't exactly know for sure, other than referring the US carrier air wings (CVWs) of the Nimitz and Ford CVNs and make some rough projections. Though, I suppose that it wouldn't hurt much to make some educated guesses.
But before that, some notes:
Note #1 - There would be three main categories, each representing PLAN carriers per the respective stages outlined in Project 048.
Note #2 - It should be noted that the following guesses did not take U(C)AVs into account, hence the actual CVW arrangements on PLAN CV/CVNs in the future will differ considerably from what have been tabulated below.
Category #1 - ~60000-ton CVs (i.e. Liaoning and Shandong):
1x J-15T squadron (10 - 12 units) - fighters
1x J-35 squadron (10 - 12 units) - fighters
1x J-15DT squadron (4 - 6 units) - EW aircraft
1x Z-18J squadron (4 units) - AEW helicopters
1x Z-18F or Z-20F squadron (4 units) - ASW helicopters
1x Z-9C or Z-20J squadron (4 units) - transport/SAR helicopters
It should be noted that the aforementioned arrangement is assumed to hold true for the 2020s and 2030s (and that Shandong is to be retrofitted with the same J-35 operability as Liaoning in the near future).
Category #2 - ~80000-ton CVs (i.e. Fujian and her probable (half-)sister ship):
| Stage 1 (~2020s) | Stage 2 (~2030s) | No. of aircrafts per squadron | |
| J-15T fighters | 2x squadrons | 1x squadron | 10 - 12 |
| J-35 fighters | 1x squadron | 2x squadrons | 10 - 12 |
| J-15DT EW aircrafts | 1x squadron | 1x squadron | 4 - 6 |
| KJ-600 AEW aircrafts | 1x squadron | 1x squadron | ~4 |
| KY-600(?) transport aircrafts | N/A | 1x squadron | ~2 |
| Z-18F or Z-20F ASW helicopters | 1x squadron | 1x squadron | ~6 |
| Z-9C or Z-20J transport/SAR helicopters | 1x squadron | 1x squadron | ~6 |
It should be noted that Fujian wasn't designed with the operation of carrier-based 6th-gen fighters (a.k.a. J-XDH from now on) in mind, hence she must undergo retrofitting works before she has the capability to operate J-XDHs. Here, it is assumed that both Fujian and her probable (half-)sister ship have the same limitations and won't be undergoing such retrofits until the mid/late-2030s or even early-2040s.
Category #3 - ~100000-ton CVs/CVNs (i.e. 004/005 and beyond):
| Stage 1 (~2030s) | Stage 2 (~2040s) | No. of aircrafts per squadron | |
| J-15T fighters | 1x squadron | N/A | 10 - 12 |
| J-35 fighters | 2x squadrons | 2x squadrons | 10 - 12 |
| J-XDH fighters | 1x squadron | 2x squadrons | 10 - 12 |
| J-15DT EW aircrafts | 1x squadron | 1x squadron | 6 - 8 |
| KJ-600 AEW aircrafts | 1x squadron | 1x squadron | 4 - 6 |
| KY-600(?) transport aircrafts | 1x squadron | 1x squadron | ~3 |
| Z-18F or Z-20F ASW helicopters | 1x squadron | 1x squadron | ~6 |
| Z-9C or Z-20J transport/SAR helicopters | 1x squadron | 1x squadron | ~6 |
It should be noted that here, it is assumed that the J-15Ts would gradually be phased out of PLAN service starting in the early-2040s, with its position and roles onboard the CV/CVNs taken over by the J-XDHs. However, it is anticipated that J-15Ts could still be serving with the older CVs in the PLAN until the early/mid-2050s.
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