I know some of the non-Chinese speaking members are using translators to try to get information from Chinese forums first hand. And although auto-translation has certainly improved over the years (I remember trying to talking to a Russian using google translate back in 2007, google thinks he said "I'll drive you home with a giant wind mill"), it can't get around what Chinese military enthusiasts does: using nicknames for practically everything.
I don't know why they do that. At first I thought they are just "protecting the national secret" like how they blur their own images, but later I found that it's just part of the culture within Chinese military forums. Cool kids gotta talk like cool kids, I guess.
Here's a incomprehensive list of various nicknames they use and the reason behind it.
I wish the next time you come across something incomprehensible in your translator, this can help.
六爷/七爷/八爷
Literal translation: Grandpa Six/Grandpa Seven/Grandpa Eight
Translation: J6/J7/J8
Reason: These places are so old that they are the equivalent of grandpas in fighters.
棍子
Literal translation: A stick/rod.
Translation: J-10
Reason: Some say it's because J-10's shape being a stick(the fuselage) with wings attached to it. Some say it's because there's a rumor in the early days that J-10's NATO reporting name translates to 恶棍.
中秋
Literal translation: Mid autumn
Translation: J-15
Reason: Mid autumn is August the 15th.(on the lunar calendar)
筷子
Literal translation: Chopsticks.
Translation: J-11, but sometimes used to refer to all Chinese flankers.
Reason: 11 looking like two parallel sticks, two sticks = chopsticks.
石榴
Literal translation: Pomegranate
Translation: J-16
Reason: "Pomegranate" and "sixteen" is phonetically the same in Chinese.
骨头鹰
Literal translation: Bone Eagle
Translation: FC-31
Reason: FC-31's official name is "鹘鹰", most people have no idea how 鹘 is pronounced as it is rarely used. People recognized the 骨 in 鹘 and just went with it.
小龙
Literal translation: Little Dragon
Translation: JF-17/FC-1
Reason: FC-1's offical name is 枭龙(Fierce Dragon), but it's much smaller than J-10猛龙(Vigorous Dragon), and 小龙 and 枭龙 is phonetically the same.
黑丝/丝带
Literal translation: Black silk/Ribbon
Translation: J-20
Reason: 黑丝 phonetically the same as 黑四, which means "black four", which in turn refers to J-20 being black(for the first few prototypes) and forth generation. 丝带 is pronounced the same as 四代, which means forth generation.
平衡木
Literal translation: Balance beam
Translation: KJ-200
Reason: This is a pretty well known one, because how KJ-200's radar looked.
大盘鸡
Literal translation: Big Dish Chicken
Translation: KJ-2000
Reason: Big Dish refers to the radar. Chicken just sounds the same as Plane in Chinese.
黑鱼/核鱼
Literal translation: Black fish/Nuke fish
Translation: Submarines/Nuclear Subs
Reason: Due to how submarines are black and submerges in the water.
巧克力/坑
Literal translation: Chocolate/Pit
Translation: Vertical launch cells
Reason: Vertical launch cells are usually arranged in a X by X manner square. Looks like chocolate bars. And vertical launch cells are essentially a pit to store missiles.
盾舰
Literal translation: Shield Ship
Translation: 052C/052D
Reason: Referring to the 052C/D's Aegis equivalent radar and systems.
青年/新青年/女青年
Literal translation: Youth/New Youth/Female Youth
Translation: 054, 054A, 054B
Reason: Due to 054 being a relatively new ship. 054A is newer. About 054B, it's rather vulgar. B is phonetically similar to "Puss" in Chinese. You figure out the rest.
弹弓/蒸弹/电弹
Literal translation: Slingshot, steam slingshot, electric slingshot
Translation: Catapult, steam catapult, EMALS
Reason: 弹 can mean a lot of things in Chinese. Munition, Bounce, Eject... In this case, it refers to catapults.
大驱
Literal translation: Big Drive
Translation: Big Destroyer, Type 055
Reason: Destroyer is 驱逐舰 in Chinese, for the sake of being short, only 驱 is used in the case. I guess I could've used "Big D" in literal translation, oh well.
奶妈
Literal translation: Wet nurse
Translation: Aerial refueler
Reason: Wet nurse is a slang used for healers in MMORPG games. As they refill people's health bars. Seems appropriate to use the term as they refill fuel tanks.
There are literally hundreds more out there, but I can't think of any as of now. Most of them are made due to being phonetically similar to something else. For its nature, it can be very hard to understand even for Chinese speaking people, hope it helps.