PLAN Aircraft Carrier programme...(Closed)

Bltizo said:

Two PL-8s and two YJ-83Ks/KD-88s aren't a massive payload, but demonstrates finally now that the PLAN do intend on operating J-15 as a strike platform.

We can be sure that is a fairly light loadout and that we can see J-15 with more weapons (although we won't know what kind of fuel load it will haul even with a large loadout). But still, that is two 200km class stand off weapons, that by the looks of things, will be one of the first A2G weapons integrated on J-15.
With the large fuel load of the flanker platform, you have a very long range strike fighter not too different to the F-14C before it was axed from service.

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bd popeye said:

Yes helos count.. so do C-2 Greyhounds.

If need be the USN CVNs could operate with an air wing similar to one I deployed with on the USS America CV-66 in 1981.

CVW-11 as deployed on CV-66 in 1981

14ac= VF-114 Aardvarks F-14A(TARPS)
12ac= VF-213 Black Lions F-14A
12ac= VA-192 Golden Dragons A-7E
12ac= VA-195 Dam Busters A-7E
15ac= VA-95 Green Lizards A-6E/KA-6D
04ac= VAW-123 Screwtops E-2C
04ac= VAQ-133 Wizards EA-6B
06ac= HS-12 Wyverns SH-3H
10ac= VS-33 Screwbirds S-3A
01ac= VQ-2DET. Batmen EA-3B
02ac= VR-24DET. Lifting Eagles C-2A
92 total aircraft.

I'm sure there are enough accommodations aboard a Ford or Nimitz class to support more sailors and an larger air-wing as necessary.

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SinoSoldier said:

Wasn't it pretty much decided that the J-15 would be be a hitting platform when pictures of those missile mockups appeared during trials?

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bd popeye said:

Yes helos count.. so do C-2 Greyhounds.

If need be the USN CVNs could operate with an air wing similar to one I deployed with on the USS America CV-66 in 1981.

CVW-11 as deployed on CV-66 in 1981

14ac= VF-114 Aardvarks F-14A(TARPS)
12ac= VF-213 Black Lions F-14A
12ac= VA-192 Golden Dragons A-7E
12ac= VA-195 Dam Busters A-7E
15ac= VA-95 Green Lizards A-6E/KA-6D
04ac= VAW-123 Screwtops E-2C
04ac= VAQ-133 Wizards EA-6B
06ac= HS-12 Wyverns SH-3H
10ac= VS-33 Screwbirds S-3A
01ac= VQ-2DET. Batmen EA-3B
02ac= VR-24DET. Lifting Eagles C-2A
92 total aircraft.

I'm sure there are enough accommodations aboard a Ford or Nimitz class to support more sailors and an larger air-wing as necessary.

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latenlazy said:

US Intelligence going to be more reliable than a UN inspections team (at least when it comes to knowing things). One is more likely to have real time information and more comprehensive intelligence. The followup shelling by Assad's government right after their use when the UN announced it was sending investigations is also suspicious (though not conclusive of course). Don't know why you'd cherry pick three comments to make an argument about credibility. Let's not resort to argumentum ad populum.

Anyways, I think it's important to point out that China at this point has far more experience with electromagnetic rail technologies than with steam catapults. I think that's one very strong argument for China jumping straight to an EMALS.

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delft said:

OT
I didn't do the cherry picking. That was done by WaPo. And by Kerry who said the rebels didn't have Sarin, while Turkey said it had found Sarin
in possession of rebels in Turkey and Russia sent a report on a poison gas attack on March 19 to the OPCW many months ago which they published, against the rules, in answer to lies by Kerry.

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Totoro said:

240 sortie rate for ford is for short periods only, a surge period of a day or two. its goal for a more sustainable sortie rate is 160 sorties a day. Nimitz's limit is 200 for surge, 125 for prolongued operations.

Actual wartime operations over several weeks time ALWAYS offer even smaller sortie rates than that.

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They basically tend to drop towards a single sortie per aircraft per day, in normal conditions - no excess pilots, realistic distances crossed to target, maintenance needs etc.

Land based planes have always had a little better sortie rates than carrier planes, but they too, as history teaches us, don't do much better over longer air campaigns. In the last 4 air campaigns US took part, 2 of them were around 1 sortie per plane per day (serbia, iraq 2003), one (Libya) was even under 1 sortie and one (first gulf war) barely made it to 2 sorties.

Also, for a decade now, standard usn combat air wing trained with a structure of four squadrons, each having no more than 14 planes, often 12, sometimes just 10. 48-52-56 combat planes is a realistic number for Ford carriers in the future. Of course, those 160/240 sorties also count in growlers and hawkeyes. While theoretically Ford could do 4 sorties per plane for a day or three (as shown in one staged exercise at the above link), a more realistic maximum limit is 2.5 sorties per plane. Even that won't be sustainable over a period of several weeks. granted, not many operations may need such long commitments from a carrier force. Judging by history, after 2-3 weeks that should fall under 2 sorties per plane per day and keep dropping towards a single sortie per plane per day for campaigns that last more than two-three months.

Limiting factor for nimitz, ford or liaoning isn't the deck, catapults, ski ramp or arrestor system. Real limiting factor are air crews, their number and the fact combat missions are quite tiring. Ground crews suffer from the same limit, once we're talking about day after day after day operations. Then, after several days of hard hitting tempo, maintenance becomes a factor too. few hours of maintenance per plane stops being enough and overnight maintenance needs to be performed.

Basically, limit is crew numbers and available space for all any additional crew. Unless Liaoning has a worse ratio of air crews/ground crews per plane than Nimitz, it won't have much worse sortie generation rate either. A fairly small force of 24 J15 planes should be, in my opinion, quite decently served by Liaoning's crews and achieve similar sortie rates.

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Bltizo said:

Now we just need to see what variety of A2G munitions J-15 can really carry, and to see the loads start increasing incrementally until it reaches MTOW.

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