J-15 carrier-borne fighter thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Thanks … that‘s my theory too!
In fact I'm not sure ... this is what I have for Batch 03 J-15s
By the way ... When will we finally see the first catapult-capable J-15 clearly in PLAN colours and in service? We know they are in production and testing & training of pilots must be underway in order to be prepared for the Fujian, but hey, where are they?
The Fujian will have to pass sea trials first. We might even see specific catapult tests having to be done before they try to launch aircraft from it. Hopefully it won't take as long to qualify the carrier and the catapults as it took for the US with the Ford aircraft carrier.
Sorry for the misunderstanding and yes, the "Fujian will have to pass sea trials first" before trials of any type of aircraft will happen on-board of the carrier, but prior to this - and IMO in parallel to the Fujian's sea trials - the units must be formed, pilots must be training for the new type and cat-launch ... but still we haven't seen any J-15s in larger numbers at any base.
Did we see huge amounts of pilots training ski jump launches when Type 001 and 002 were to come into service? Not that I can remember. We could not see the aircraft show up in large numbers with new batches just before Type 002 came out either. In fact we wondered when the heck they would produce the aircraft for the 002 carrier.
This time we have seen pictures of the catapult variants of the J-15 and J-35 at the land based test facilities. Supposedly prototypes, but they look to be in advanced stage of completion. With all the delays of testing it would not be unreasonable if they spend like two years testing the carrier before it goes into service.
Before it enters service they do not need either a lot of aircraft or a lot of pilots.
And yes, with all the pilots they need to train, at this point they would be better served if they had a dedicated trainer aircraft which was capable of catapult launch.
This time we have seen pictures of the catapult variants of the J-15 and J-35 at the land based test facilities. Supposedly prototypes, but they look to be in advanced stage of completion. With all the delays of testing it would not be unreasonable if they spend like two years testing the carrier before it goes into service.
Before it enters service they do not need either a lot of aircraft or a lot of pilots.
And yes, with all the pilots they need to train, at this point they would be better served if they had a dedicated trainer aircraft which was capable of catapult launch.
Not really pilots but from time to time we got report about pilot qualifications and we were able to the the J-15s at Huangdicun ... here we see - at least by my knowledge - nothing!
Largely unnoticed, but at the ETC's Weibo account a video was posted showing allegedly "A certain station of China Eastern Airlines regularly performs multi-aircraft support missions (J-15, etc.)." The base looks a lot like Huzhou AB.
So maybe this could be a hint, the PLAN NA is preparing for a dedicated J-15 unit within the ETC!?
We saw the same in the STC at Lingshui ... and the Fujian needs an own J-15 unit. So maybe they are preparing for the J-15B?
Here's the video:
(Images and video via @东部战区 from Weibo)
So maybe this could be a hint, the PLAN NA is preparing for a dedicated J-15 unit within the ETC!?
We saw the same in the STC at Lingshui ... and the Fujian needs an own J-15 unit. So maybe they are preparing for the J-15B?
Here's the video:
(Images and video via @东部战区 from Weibo)
