A J-15 carrier-borne fighter jet takes off from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Liaoning during a maritime training exercise on July 1, 2017. The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and its carrier strike group carried out realistic training in an undisclosed sea area on July 1, 2017. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Li Tang)

The Naval Aviation Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has made preliminary strides in its development from being coast-based to carrier-based, and it has established a carrier-based aircraft system consisting of fighter jets, helicopters, early warning aircraft and trainer jets, a top official of the force announced, confirming for the first time that China has been developing carrier-based early warning aircraft and trainer jets.

Dong Qing, head of the naval aviation department of the PLA Navy staff, made the remarks at a forum on the development of China's naval aviation held in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province on Wednesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported on the day.

Military observers, analysts and media reports have long speculated about China's development of carrier-based early warning aircraft and trainers. Previous reports suggested that the KJ-600 carrier-based early warning aircraft, a Chinese equivalent to the US' E-2, made its maiden flight in 2020, and that China was also developing carrier-based variants of the JL-9 and JL-10 trainer jets.

With the launch of China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, on June 17 this year, the PLA Navy now needs more carrier-based aircraft, not only in terms of simple numbers but also in terms of the diversity of types, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.

Thanks to the electromagnetic catapults, the Fujian will be able to launch heavy aircraft like early warning aircraft, which can significantly increase the detection range and situational awareness of a carrier combat group, enabling stronger offensive and defensive capabilities, the expert said.

China will also need more pilots to fly these planes, and carrier-based trainers will allow cadets to train on real carriers instead of using land-based trainers in airfields to simulate, the expert said. "Using dedicated trainer aircraft will also liberate combat aircraft from training missions to focus on combat."

Dong said that China has explored two systems to train carrier-based pilots, one that converts land-based pilots to carrier-based ones, the other training new carrier-based pilots from scratch.

These two systems are well-established and are working simultaneously to ensure that the PLA Naval Aviation Force has all the pilots that it needs, Dong said.

Some 14 youth aviation schools have been established at high schools around the country, which have become main sources for the PLA Navy to recruit pilot cadets, according to Dong.