J-15 Heavyweight Fighters Begin Operations From New Chinese Aircraft Carrier Shandong

A number of Chinese media outlets have reported that the country's new aircraft carrier the Shandong had begun to deploy J-15 Flying Shark fighter jets, with the aircraft carrying out their first operational missions in the final week of June 2020. The Shandong was launched in April 2017 and commissioned by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in 2019. It is a heavily modernised derivative of the Soviet Kuznetsov Class cruiser design, although one major change has been the replacement of anti ship cruise missiles with more aircraft making it a dedicated carrier rather than an aircraft carrying cruiser. Although the J-15 is a formidable fighter, based on the PLA Air Force’s J-11B air superiority platform, and the Shandong itself integrates a range of advanced technologies including AESA radars and a missile defence system, its reliance on a ski jump launch system similar to that on Britain’s new Queen Elizabeth Class carriers has seriously restricted the capabilities of its air wing. Such launch systems prevent aircraft from taking off with a heavy fuel load or a high weapons payload.

The Shandong is expected to be China’s last carrier which uses a ski jump launch system, with upcoming Type 002 Class flattop carriers using an electromagnetic catapult system similar to that on the U.S. Navy’s new supercarrier USS Gerald Ford. This will allow J-15 fighters deploying from their decks to operate much closer to their full potential - flying longer ranged missions at higher altitudes and with more weapons. The J-15 itself is though to have been modernised considerably since it first entered service, with newer variants expected to integrate AESA radars, stealth coatings, more powerful engines and lighter more durable high-composite airframes. Specialised electronic attack variants perviously seen at prototype stage are also expected to be deployed, while standard variants are likely to receive new PL-15 AESA radar guided air to air missiles which will vastly improve their performance against other aircraft.