CV-18 Fujian/003 CATOBAR carrier thread

[Pendemic]

There isn't an issue with building more carriers now and filling them with catapult capable J-15, whilst waiting for J-35s to be available.

The Chinese Navy is still in the midst of a large expansion in number of aircraft carriers, and the future airwings can use those J-15s.

And remember that there aren't actually going to be that many F-35s operating from US carriers.

But perhaps PLAN will be rather disjointed if, say, they have built 4-5 carriers and still the new stealth jets or carrier capable large UAVs are delayed with no firm delivery dates in sight.

I would think that naval planners should and must take into account the most important weapon of aircraft carriers ie. the planes.

 

[AndrewS]

But perhaps PLAN will be rather disjointed if, say, they have built 4-5 carriers and still the new stealth jets or carrier capable large UAVs are delayed with no firm delivery dates in sight.

I would think that naval planners should and must take into account the most important weapon of aircraft carriers ie. the planes.

Why? You can always change the airwing and replace J-15 with J-35 or the UCAV when they are ready.

By the time we see 4 carriers, it will be already be 2030+

 

[Pendemic]

Why? You can always change the airwing and replace J-15 with J-35 or the UCAV when they are ready.

By the time we see 4 carriers, it will be already be 2030+

Yes you can if money is unlimited plus you don’t care about whether you learn about operational shortfalls of 003 -005 I.e. whether their design has been optimized for the Jxx. In a world where wastage of resources is not your worry then it’s ok.

Anyway this is a bit off topic so do PM me if you want further discussion.

 

[AndrewS]

Yes you can if money is unlimited plus you don’t care about whether you learn about operational shortfalls of 003 -005 I.e. whether their design has been optimized for the Jxx. In a world where wastage of resources is not your worry then it’s ok.

Anyway this is a bit off topic so do PM me if you want further discussion.

I expect the J-35 to be initially ready by 2027 at the latest.
By that time, we might just see the 4th Chinese carrier coming into service.

So worries about overinvesting in J-15s with the 3rd carrier simply aren't a concern.
You could easily transfer some J-15s to the new carrier, and have mixed airwings of 24 J-15 and 25 J-35 without any waste.

 

[Gloire_bb]

I expect the J-35 to be initially ready by 2027 at the latest.
By that time, we might just see the 4th Chinese carrier coming into service.

4th by 2027?
I mean it's good to be optimistic, but there is no indication it's possible.
For anything carrier-sized to enter service by 2027, we should start seeing blocks right about now, and that's without gimmicks of a new type of powerplant.

 

[AndrewS]

4th by 2027?
I mean it's good to be optimistic, but there is no indication it's possible.
For anything carrier-sized to enter service by 2027, we should start seeing blocks right about now, and that's without gimmicks of a new type of powerplant.

The word is "might". I'm being generous as the argument is that China will have invested in too many carriers with J-15s instead of J-35s

 

[Gloire_bb]

The word is "might". I'm being generous as the argument is that China will have invested in too many carriers with J-15s instead of J-35s

China most probably isn't invested in carriers with either J-15s or J-35s.
Carrier decks capable of carrying one will probably be able to carry the other. Or their future replacements, when they'll start emerging in the future decades.

 

[AndrewS]

China most probably isn't invested in carriers with either J-15s or J-35s.
Carrier decks capable of carrying one will probably be able to carry the other. Or their future replacements, when they'll start emerging in the future decades.

I agree

 

[Deino]

little better pic
View attachment 87999

and another recent one ...

 

[reservior dogs]

The planes, the planes.

It is quite probable that China will pace the building of new carriers in tandem with the development and commissioning of the new JXX carrier capable stealth planes. No point in having too many carriers filled with J15 when the other side has F 35s

Ship building and making planes have very different bottlenecks which are unrelated to each other. With ship building, once you committed to build them at certain tempo, you need to keep the tempo to make efficient use of the workforce, facilities and also for budgetary consistency. No navy will stop spending the budget allotted to them just so they can wait for the planes. Once a plane is ready, ramping up production should be relatively easy, especially when you are dealing with annual production of low double digit (assuming we are not completely switched over to J-35). Even the U.S. is not getting rid of all of our F-18s. It is a mix. Actually, during the next decade, the Chinese carriers will not be very useful going toe to toe with the U.S. CSGs, so a show of force in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean against a country that is not U.S. will still be quite potent with the J-15s.