J-15 carrier fighter thread

[ACuriousPLAFan]

He mentioned it's more of supporting the russian supply chain thus doing russian a favour, russian navy will certainly need Al-31 production line running while their AC getting repaired.

But if another J-15 needed to land on the carrier with only one working engine or worse, I think PLAN won't hesitate to call it off and switch to WS-10H.

That... doesn't sound really convincing, TBH...

For one - Why should China sacrifice the stability of her own fighter jet engine supply chain, just so that China could help her ally Russia - especially when domestic alternative is readily available?

Besides, if the WS-10H really is better and more reliable than the AL-31, then there is even less justification for China to sacrifice the performance of her J-15 fleet. This is especially true when considering that those J-15s are to face the full brunt of the American and Japanese naval aviation prowess in the WestPac. The PLAN definitely needs all the edge they can get over her opponents.

Moreover, Russia is currently facing an attritional war in Ukraine. It's not like they haven't lost any Flankers in the war. Why don't their Air Force order more new Flankers to replace those being lost in Ukraine, other than strengthening their fighter fleet in face of full-on NATO aggression right on her doorstep? This would also kick up the demand for more engines for those new Flankers too.

To be fair, I believe there are only 3 probable reasons for China to keep ordering AL-31s for their J-15s well into the coming years:
1. As wartime spare that would allow temporary surge in J-15 production while waiting for WS-10H production to spool up;
2. As backup spare for those J-15s already equipped with AL-31s; and/or
3. WS-10H has been proven to be consistently unreliable and/or failed to achieve the required performance parameters set by the PLAN.

 

[Atomicfrog]

He mentioned it's more of supporting the russian supply chain thus doing russian a favour, russian navy will certainly need Al-31 production line running while their AC getting repaired.

But if another J-15 needed to land on the carrier with only one working engine or worse, I think PLAN won't hesitate to call it off and switch to WS-10H.

It is unlikely that J-15 family will use a Russian engine that is not the standard Al-31s that they already use -- if they were to switch engines from current standard Al-31s, it would make more sense just to go to a WS-10 variant rather than another Russian engine.

Maybe the Russian al-31 is better or just cheaper for a salty environment ? Do they have a specific variant modifications for the navy ?

 

[siegecrossbow]

Also keep in mind that even today AL-31 has faster response time than the WS-10. WS-10 has improved in that regard and in terms of reliability, thrust, and most other metrics is a better engine than the AL-31, but response time is critical for carrier operations.

 

[kriss]

I don't think it's quite possible/feasible to upgrade the basic J-15/15S to full J-15B standard.
On top of that, producing new planes to start expensive, MLU-level upgrades on them just a couple of years later is a case of bad planning/laundering. Not too likely that's the case.

Not full J-15B standard but they would benefit from an upgrade package like J-11B. And I also don't think they would have MLU ahead of schedule. It's just a choice of whether they want to get familiar with carrier operation as soon as possible at the cost of having less powerful avionics for their fighter fleet for a decade. Also they likely put so many hours on these early airframes they would retire early just like first batch of Su-27UBK.

 

[Dante80]

If the info about this checks out, the most direct/easiest to imagine reason would be simply that -for the specific application- AL-31 is a better option than the WS-10 at this time juncture.

Have in mind that this doesn't mean it is the true reason, the only reason, or even the correct reason. It is simply what Occam's razor would prescribe, given the context at hand.

 

[sunnymaxi]

That... doesn't sound really convincing, TBH...

For one - Why should China sacrifice the stability of her own fighter jet engine supply chain, just so that China could help her ally Russia - especially when domestic alternative is readily available?

Besides, if the WS-10H really is better and more reliable than the AL-31, then there is even less justification for China to sacrifice the performance of her J-15 fleet. This is especially true when considering that those J-15s are to face the full brunt of the American and Japanese naval aviation prowess in the WestPac. The PLAN definitely needs all the edge they can get over her opponents.

Moreover, Russia is currently facing an attritional war in Ukraine. It's not like they haven't lost any Flankers in the war. Why don't their Air Force order more new Flankers to replace those being lost in Ukraine, other than strengthening their fighter fleet in face of full-on NATO aggression right on her doorstep? This would also kick up the demand for more engines for those new Flankers too.

To be fair, I believe there are only 3 probable reasons for China to keep ordering AL-31s for their J-15s well into the coming years:
1. As wartime spare that would allow temporary surge in J-15 production while waiting for WS-10H production to spool up;
2. As backup spare for those J-15s already equipped with AL-31s; and/or
3. WS-10H has been proven to be consistently unreliable and/or failed to achieve the required performance parameters set by the PLAN.

all are speculations. nobody knows what PLAN thinking. only time will tell.

PLAN following different path. on the other side PLAAF rapidly phasing down Russian engines.

Shenyang Liming present Naval variant of WS-10. its now upto PLAN. WS-10H or whatever you called is absolutely reliable engine and can perform any task in rough sea conditions.

my Chinese friend told me, once J-35 will be operational. PLAN can switch to 100 percent domestic engines for J-15 to reduce cost and logistics issue. stick with domestic supply chain.

 

[asif iqbal]

ok so J15T has Russian engine ?

 

[siegecrossbow]

ok so J15T has Russian engine ?

As far as we know of, yes.

 

[AF-1]

I am bit disappointed with fact that J15T meant for EMAILs carrier will still use old Russian engines. I thought that purpose of further purchase of those engines would be for maintaining earlier J15 variants based on CV16 and CV17...

 

[sunnymaxi]

I am bit disappointed with fact that J15T meant for EMAILs carrier will still use old Russian engines. I thought that purpose of further purchase of those engines would be for maintaining earlier J15 variants based on CV16 and CV17...

nobody knows. all are just speculations. J-15T can use domestic engines. only time will tell

once J-35 will be operational. i m damn sure, they will switch to domestic option due to various reasons.

lets suppose PLAN still choose Russian engine for now. but it won't continue for many more years. at the end they have to switch.

China have now robust Aero engine industry and deeply integrated supply chain for engine components. after J-35, they don't have any solid reason to use Russian engine.