J-15 carrier fighter thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
antiterror13
Brigadier
J-17 ? really?
Even if YJ-12 can be fitted on J-15 and the wing/s can bear the load, the missile's weight is 2.5 tonnes EACH. Just two of these, one under each wing, eats up more than half the max loading. Max loading is not realistic and does not consider the ramp launching, performance, range, and mission profile. Fighters rarely get loaded to anywhere near their max unless they know they'll be dumping a lot of that weight very quickly. CM-400AKG are the go to missiles surely. Maybe YJ-12s can be air launched by J-15s without sacrificing so much in other departments when they are onboard CATOBAR carriers.
Comparing the YJ-12 to missiles with similar dimensions suggest it weighs ~2t, not 2.5t.
A 6t combat load with ~5t of fuel is about max takeoff capacity for Su-33s from Kuznetsov-type carriers with 25kt of headwind, or from rear launch position with 0kt headwind. The top speed of the Liaoning is >28kt; she has no problem producing 25kt of headwind if need be. In other words, a J-15 can take off from the Liaoning with three YJ-12s and ~5t of fuel. However, the weight and drag imposed by the three YJ-12s, according to pb, reduces the J-15's range to a few hundred kilometres which does not satisfy PLANAF standards and is therefore not a standard loadout. Furthermore, the fire-control system of current J-15s have not been upgraded for compatibility with YJ-12s/PL-10s/PL-15s etc.
I doubt we'll ever see J-15 take off the first two carriers with two or more YJ-12s. CATOBAR is different story and entirely likely. Granted no photos does not mean no capability.
The reason given by pb for the lack of approval for current J-15s to carry three YJ-12s as part of their standard ASuW loadout is because the engines don't provide enough margin of safety over normal combat ranges. If more efficient engines (WS-10B) are installed, he thinks it's possible the PLANAF will approve such a loadout.
We don't know if the current J-15s will ever get re-engined for WS-10Bs so it's possible they will never have the opportunity to operationally carry three YJ-12s. New J-15s with WS-10Bs, if they exist, have a high likelihood of being approved to carry three YJ-12s operationally.
Considering the range of the YJ-12's, you don't need to have a lot of plane range before you touch someone. In fact why bother to launch them from planes at all, you might as well launch them all from ships. It would be a lot more cost efficient. The duty of the planes would be to spot for the missiles, and to protect the spotters.