Posted on 11/02/2014 11:59:18 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
A model of China's J-15 carrier-based fighter displayed by an unknown ship design & research institute indicates has revealed that the PLA Navy is modifying the landing gear of the fighter for future aircraft carriers designed with catapults, reports the state-run Global Times.
The landing gear retraction jack of the new J-15 seems to be thicker compared to earlier models, said the report. The nose gear seems to be designed for catapults and arresting gear. Since the Liaoning, China's only carrier in service, is not equipped with a catapult, all J-15 fighters have to be pulled to the afterdeck for launching. The new design can save time for the PLA Navy in the future.
Li Xiaojian, a military expert in Beijing, said that adding the catapult system to aircraft carriers is a global naval trend. Even though new carrier-based stealth fighters are currently under development, the J-15 must serve the PLA Navy for the next 20 or 30 years. It is now extremely important for China to design new J-15 to be launched by catapult.
The steam catapult is more likely to be seen aboard China's domestically built carriers in the future, said Li, though the system has its weaknesses. Its size is considered too large to operate from a medium-sized aircraft carrier like the Liaoning, a refitted Soviet-era carrier bought from Ukraine. Electromagnetic propulsion systems would be optimal for China, he said.
i wonder how often they’ll have to rebuild/replace parts on them for maintenance work.
Were it not for all the Obamabots in the Puzzle Palace, I'd say we were going to win the next war. I'd encourage them to modify a decades old Russian design...
Was it Napoleon who advised not to interrupt an enemy in the middle of a mistake?
Man from the pictures that is one dirty Radar target.
Yeah, discontinuities, flat areas, cavities... It probably has the RCS of a bomber sized aircraft.
I don’t want to cast aspersions on ChiCom innovation, but that looks awfully like a Sukhoi Su-33
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