J-15 carrier-borne fighter thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Contrary to AW's estimates I expect China to also replace the J-15s in the 001 and 002 with J-15B or J-35 aircraft.
The J-15B is the CATOBAR variant, hence they will never serve onboard Liaoning and Shandong. Although, Shenyang AC conducting MLUs upon the J-15s and J-15As like how they upgraded the J-11Bs into J-11BGs is certainly a viable option.
Meanwhile, for the J-35 - As of current, the "nay" seems to be the dominant voice compared to "yay" when it comes to the debate on whether the J-35s would serve onboard the Liaoning and Shandong - And I can see why.
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While they might just do an MLU and upgrade the electronics on the J-15s in 001 and 002 instead of going for the J-15B I doubt they won't send J-35s to them. The J-35 is a smaller aircraft, so you can better utilize the limited available space in the early carriers with it.
There is no reason why not
I could be wrong, but I think there are different design requirements for aircraft launching out of CATOBAR and STOBAR carriers. A J-15 launching out of a CATOBAR carrier will probably have a reinforced frame that will better absorb the stress from a catapult assisted launch. A J-15 launching out of STOBAR carrier may need a reinforced front wheel section to absorb the stress from barrelling into a sloped runway.
They could probably design a J-15 that is compatible with both types of carriers. But then it would be a sub-optimal design with excess weight.
They could probably design a J-15 that is compatible with both types of carriers. But then it would be a sub-optimal design with excess weight.
The first half of the sentence which you have bolded is the answer, alongside what @THX 1138 has explained.
Besides, given how the PLAN is going all-in with CATOBAR into the future WRT carrier procurement, it makes little sense for Shenyang AC to revert back to develop a STOBAR variant of the J-15B, when doing MLU onto the present J-15s and J-15As is the more cost and effort-effective option.
Same reason why Shenyang AC opted to drop J-11D in favor of upgrading J-11Bs to J-11BGs, plus introducing J-16s into the PLAAF - In conjunction with Chengdu AC's J-20 entering production.
So far, we still don't have any concrete information that the J-35s will also go onboard Liaoning and Shandong. So until then, I'd hold a "wait-&-see" attitude.
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The stress from the raised bow is pretty much the same direction as when the plane lands, with the front of the plane slam into the deck. The force from the launch is probably less than the landing.
Designed for CATOBAR doesn't prevent take off from STOBAR carriers. You are not making sense.
We are not talking about whether PLAN will deploy J-15B and/or J-35 to Liaoning and Shandong. You made the argument that they can't be deployed and we are refuting that argument.