A J-15T carrier-borne fighter jet, a brand-new version of the Chinese Navy's J-15 carrier-borne fighter jet, arrives in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, on November 6, 2024 to participate in the Airshow China 2024. Photo: VCG

 

A J-15T carrier-borne fighter jet on Wednesday arrived in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province ahead of Airshow China 2024, marking the first participation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in the exhibition.

As an upgraded version of the original J-15, the J-15T is equipped with latest radar and weapons and is compatible with catapult launch systems, Zhang Xuefeng, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The J-15T touched down in Zhuhai at noon on Wednesday. It is a core weapon in an aircraft carrier formation, and a key force of the PLA Naval Aviation Force, said China Bugle, an official social media account of the PLA News Media Center.

Its landing in Zhuhai marked the first time the PLA Navy has participated in an Airshow China event, China Bugle said.

Airshow China 2024 is scheduled to be held from November 12 to 17 in Zhuhai.

Against the background that the Fujian, China's first catapults-equipped aircraft carrier, is holding smooth sea trials, the "T" in the J-15T likely means "tanshe," literally catapult-launched, Zhang said.

After viewing photos of the aircraft released by China Bugle and other official media, Zhang noted that the J-15T had received redesigns to reinforce its front landing gear.

China Central Television reported on Wednesday that the front landing gear of the J-15T is bulkier than the original J-15, and this change was made so that the aircraft can adjust to the huge tractive force when it is launched by a catapult.

Since the J-15 was originally designed to operate on ski jump carriers, the upgraded version should still be able to operate on China's existing carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong, according to Zhang.

Before the official announcement of the J-15T on Wednesday, the upgraded J-15 apparently featured in official media reports on the Liaoning and the Shandong's first-ever dual-carrier group exercise in the South China Sea in October. Photos released by the Xinhua News Agency showed that some J-15s in the drill had light gray radomes - a dome structure that protects radars - while the J-15 was previously known to have deep gray radomes.

After comparing photos of the J-15T that has arrived in Zhuhai, Zhang said that the new aircraft is indeed equipped with a new type of nose dome. He noted that given China's advancements in avionics, this means the J-15T is likely equipped with a type of more advanced AESA (active electronic scanning array) radar. This should further enable the J-15T to use latest airborne weapons, and see the fighter reaching a 4.5-generation level.

More to come

The announcement of the PLA Navy's J-15T carrier-borne fighter jet came a day after the PLA Air Force on Tuesday announced the participation of the J-35A medium-sized stealth fighter.

The "A" in the J-35A indicates that this warplane likely has different variants, Zhang said. A new type of warplane was tested earlier this year on the PLA Navy's aircraft carrier Liaoning, China Central Television reported in September. Media speculated that the new aircraft could be the carrier-borne version of the J-35.

According to a Tuesday press release by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the developer of the J-35A, the stealth aircraft's mission is to seize and control air superiority, eliminate hostile fourth/fifth generation fighter jets and ground/surface air defense forces, as well as intercept aerial hostile targets including fighters, bombers and cruise missiles.

Wang Yongqing, chief expert at AVIC Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute, said that the J-35A is a multirole fighter jet, meaning it can fight against air, land and sea targets.

Hong Kong-based news outlet wenweipo.com said in a report earlier that Chinese aircraft carriers are expected to be equipped with both the J-15 and the J-35.