PLAN Naval Aviation Training Facility

From Raj 47 . I think he is wrong there are 2 serious accident and one 1 fatal accident at the ground . The other serious accident happened on Liaoning but the pilot survive and he is back at training according to recent press. He show up at the national congress gathering and tell his story

Satellite images reveal China’s state-of-art naval airbase
17 October, 2017


Huangdicun Airbase | Source: Vinayak Bhat
It has 24 aircraft shelters, 3 large hangars possibly for UAVs, one hangar for airborne early warning and control (AEWC) planes, among others.

China’s dream is Chairman Xi Jinping’s vision to achieve superpower status by 2050. To realise this dream, China needs to possess power projection capability much farther than its shores.

China is already building an , which has unprecedented security. The Chinese navy or the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) plans to build at least six new aircraft carriers to complement the government’s political aims. Its indicates that the six carrier vessels will be in service by 2030.

The Shenyang Aircraft Corporation or SAC, along with 601 Aircraft Design Institute, is working hard to produce enough J-15 aircraft and its variants to match the speed of PLAN. China has produced two batches of 24 J-15A aircraft and has now begun to produce J-15B, which is an improved version.

China’s naval air force (PLANAF), although in existence since 1955, did not have a separate aircraft carrier aviation wing. The need was possibly felt when China’s first aircraft carrier — the Soviet era Kuznetsov-class Riga (renamed Varyag) — reached Dalian from Ukraine in March 2003. The PLANAF needed trained pilots for its carrier aviation wing and a facility to train them.

The need for training of pilots for PLANAF was being alleviated with the Ukrainian offer for NITKA or Ground Aviation Training and Research Complex, to be used at a good rental price. Russia was unwilling to extend the lease for NITKA and Ukraine was looking at China to fill up the place.

The first ski ramp in China was observed in China Flight Test Establishment airport at Xian Yanliang. It was obviously for testing aircraft rather than for training, since it did not have any wire traps.

Construction of specialised airbase
The first airbase with possible ski ramps was noticed in June 2010 at Huangdicun near Xincheng. The airbase construction started in April 2009 and was operational by the end of 2011.

The airbase has two ski ramps and two wire traps with arrestor cables. It has 24 aircraft shelters with one shelter for possible UAV parking, three large hangars possibly for UAVs, one large hangar for airborne early warning and control (AEWC) planes and other administrative facilities.

The airbase was upgraded with two catapults between 2015 and 2016. The first catapult-assisted take off was observed on satellite imagery in October 2016. The two catapults (steam and electromagnetic) suggest that future carrier vessels of the PLAN will have catapult assisted take off but arrested recovery or CATOBAR.

Types of aircraft

Huangdicun Airbase: Aircraft and UAV | Source: Vinayak Bhat
The aircraft usually observed on this airbase are J-15, which are the basic naval aviation backbone developed based on Su-33 of Russian origin. It has features such as missile approach warning system (MAWS), glass cockpit, tail sting and WS-10H engines with improved thrust for ski-ramp take offs.

UAVs and JL-9s have also been observed on this airbase. The presence of JL-9, in addition to J-15 aircraft, on the airbase suggests higher pilot to aircraft ratio.

The UAVs seen on the catapults suggest the future Chinese carrier vessels will have UAVs with CATOBAR (a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier) version.

Ski ramps and arrested landing area

Huangdicun: Ski Ramp | Source: Vinayak Bhat
There are two ski ramps on the second runway, half the length of primary runway. Facing opposite directions, these two provide a different take-off experience. The ski ramps have exactly similar size and possibly angle of launch as that of the Liaoning aircraft carrier. The launch positions have been marked on the runway to denote carrier vessel’s shape and exact distance on the carrier deck.


Huangdicun: Arrested Landing Area | Source: Vinayak Bhatt
There are two arrested landing areas marked on the main runway. The arrested landing area in the south has a set of four arrestor cables similar to Liaoning carrier vessel. But the second arrested landing area in the north has only three cables. This indicates possible future carrier vessel’s landing area on a CATOBAR version.

(cont)
Catapult-assisted launch facility

Huangdicun: Catapaults | Source: Vinayak Bhat
The upgrading of Huangdicun in 2015-16 was mainly to construct a catapult-assisted launch facility for future carrier vessels.

There are two types of catapults constructed. The size and shape suggests that the western one is steam and eastern one is electromagnetic-assisted launch system or EMALS. The length of both catapults indicates launch stroke of 100-125 m, acceleration achieved would be more than 10G with a cycle time of 40-50 seconds.

Learning from accidents

Huangdicun: Arrested Landing Accident| Source: Vinayak Bhat
The Chinese PLANAF, although new to carrier aviation, has done very well in terms of accidents. The US carrier aviation in the early 1950s had suffered many losses due to accidents. China probably has learned its lessons theoretically rather than learning it practically.

There have been three accidents, two of them fatal. Both fatal accidents occurred in the month of April 2016. The first one was on the ground training facility at Huangdicun and the other was on board Liaoning.

Two of these accidents could be identified on the satellite imagery much before the official announcement. The first one was identified in the last week of June 2016 from the remains of burn marks on the grass, approximately 700 m from the first arrestor cable.


Huangdicun: Arrested Landing Area | Source: Vinayak Bhatt
The second one was observed on the electromagnetic-assisted launch system where black scar marks at the end indicate a badly failed launch.

Second ground training facility
It is strongly rumoured that a second ground training facility for PLANAF is being constructed at an undisclosed location. The main contender for this honour seems to be the recently upgraded Zhanghe airport on the eastern side of Zhanghe Reservoir near Jingmen, Hubei. Although, there are no identifying signatures found as yet on this airport.


Zhanghe Airport | Source: Vinayak Bhat
Implications
Indian think tanks and China experts have been rejecting the possibility of China having any credible power projection capability in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) for the next two decades, especially since China doesn’t have any bases in the IOR.

Today, Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar are more than willing to provide land for such bases. Also, China is nearing completion of its in Djibouti, and is planning to build a similar facility in Gwadar, all of which raises the possibility of China’s power projection capability in IOR.

India needs to monitor the activities of PLAN and PLANAF very carefully. It also needs to boost its own facilities to produce aircraft and trained pilots.

Here is the account of accident aboard Liaoning

Fighter pilot injured in crash is back in action
By Zhao Lei | China Daily | Updated: 2017-10-18 07:30



Commander Cao Xianjian, a top jet fighter pilot of the PLA Navy, said he is looking forward to taking off from the deck of the nation's first domestically developed aircraft carrier, which is currently under construction.

"I am eager to operate from the new carrier. It must be more advanced and stronger than the CNS Liaoning," he said, referring to China's first carrier. "Now we are busy honing our combat capabilities and skills to become good carrier-based pilots as soon as possible," he told China Daily before traveling to Beijing as a delegate to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which opens on Wednesday at the Great Hall of the People.

Cao, 36, a native of East China's Shandong province, has served 14 years in the People's Liberation Army and is qualified to fly seven types of aircraft, but it was a serious accident that launched him to national prominence.

During routine training in April 2016, the flight control systems on his J-15 fighter jet malfunctioned, and the aircraft fell into the sea. He tried his best to save it, but ultimately was forced to eject, two seconds before it plunged into the water.

"When malfunctions happen with a plane, the first thought that comes to our mind is 'How can I fly it back?' - not ditching it," Cao said. "A good pilot would never give up on the aircraft if there was any other choice."

Because the altitude at which he ejected from the J-15 was too low for the parachute to fully spread, he nearly hit the surface before his fall was arrested only minimally.

Cao's lumbar vertebrae were fractured, requiring two surgeries at Beijing's Navy General Hospital.

Doctors said Cao would likely have to bid farewell to his flying career, as the injuries were so bad that they had to put two steel plates inside his body to sustain his spine.

When he awoke from anesthesia after the first surgery, he asked a doctor: "Will I be able to fly again?" He was determined to return.

Cao began to exercise soon after nurses removed the stitches from the surgical incision. He managed to persuade doctors to carry out the second surgery ahead of their treatment schedule so he'd have more time for flight training. He didn't want to miss the carrier-based pilot's qualification test this year.

After months of rehabilitation, doctors decided in March that Cao had recovered sufficiently to return to his unit and resume his flight training.

China commissioned the Liaoning in September 2012, after several years of refitting on a half-built vessel purchased from Ukraine. Two months later, Dai Mingmeng landed on the carrier in a J-15, becoming the first Chinese pilot to do so. In May 2013, the PLA Navy established its first carrier-borne aircraft unit with Dai as its commander.

Cao said he was recruited by Dai's unit in 2013 and has spared no effort to qualify as a carrier-based pilot.

"I will never give up my flying career because of the injuries," he said.

On May 30, Cao became the first of a new generation of J-15 pilots to land a plane on the Liaoning, fulfilling his pledge. He was awarded a special badge to mark the achievement.

Cao said he looks forward to flying his fighter over expanses of ocean as the nation's carriers sail ever farther into blue waters.

Hendrik_2000 said:

(cont)
Catapult-assisted launch facility

Huangdicun: Catapaults | Source: Vinayak Bhat
The upgrading of Huangdicun in 2015-16 was mainly to construct a catapult-assisted launch facility for future carrier vessels.

There are two types of catapults constructed. The size and shape suggests that the western one is steam and eastern one is electromagnetic-assisted launch system or EMALS. The length of both catapults indicates launch stroke of 100-125 m, acceleration achieved would be more than 10G with a cycle time of 40-50 seconds.

Learning from accidents

Huangdicun: Arrested Landing Accident| Source: Vinayak Bhat
The Chinese PLANAF, although new to carrier aviation, has done very well in terms of accidents. The US carrier aviation in the early 1950s had suffered many losses due to accidents. China probably has learned its lessons theoretically rather than learning it practically.

There have been three accidents, two of them fatal. Both fatal accidents occurred in the month of April 2016. The first one was on the ground training facility at Huangdicun and the other was on board Liaoning.

Two of these accidents could be identified on the satellite imagery much before the official announcement. The first one was identified in the last week of June 2016 from the remains of burn marks on the grass, approximately 700 m from the first arrestor cable.

Huangdicun: Arrested Landing Area | Source: Vinayak Bhatt
The second one was observed on the electromagnetic-assisted launch system where black scar marks at the end indicate a badly failed launch.

Second ground training facility
It is strongly rumoured that a second ground training facility for PLANAF is being constructed at an undisclosed location. The main contender for this honour seems to be the recently upgraded Zhanghe airport on the eastern side of Zhanghe Reservoir near Jingmen, Hubei. Although, there are no identifying signatures found as yet on this airport.

Zhanghe Airport | Source: Vinayak Bhat
Implications
Indian think tanks and China experts have been rejecting the possibility of China having any credible power projection capability in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) for the next two decades, especially since China doesn’t have any bases in the IOR.

Today, Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar are more than willing to provide land for such bases. Also, China is nearing completion of its

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

in Djibouti, and is planning to build a similar facility in Gwadar, all of which raises the possibility of China’s power projection capability in IOR.

India needs to monitor the activities of PLAN and PLANAF very carefully. It also needs to boost its own facilities to produce aircraft and trained pilots.

Click to expand...

Excellent pics and details!

From SCMP via Xinhui
Chinese navy trains more fighter pilots for expanded aircraft carrier fleet

PLA Navy has stepped up training near Bohai Sea over winter
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 02 January, 2018, 9:20pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 02 January, 2018, 11:42pm

China’s navy on Tuesday said it had stepped up fighter pilot training near the Bohai Sea this winter as it prepares to expand its aircraft carrier fleet.

The PLA Navy has started training its own pilots – rather than recruiting them from the air force – at its Naval Aeronautical University, which opened last year with a main campus in Yantai, Shandong. Fighter pilot cadets are using the country’s most advanced training aircraft at that campus and three others – in Liaoning, Hebei and Shanxi provinces, the official PLA Daily reported.

The navy did not give an estimate of how many fighter pilots it would need for its aircraft carriers – it plans to have a fleet of four in the future – but military experts said there was some urgency to get cadets trained for the vessels. The university’s first intake of 450 cadets was in May.

Home-grown aircraft carrier tops list of major additions to China’s navy in 2017

China so far has only one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, but its sister ship, the Type 001A – which is Chinese designed and built – is expected to go into full service later this year. The navy needs more fighter pilots to be based on both of those aircraft carriers, along with support crew.

The report did not specify which training aircraft was being used, but experts said it was likely to be the L-15B Falcon supersonic advanced jet trainer developed by Hongdu Aviation Industry in Nanchang, Jiangxi province.

Chinese military websites have previously reported that the L-15B would be modified for aircraft carrier pilot training. The light attack aircraft is also used by the air force for training and has been exported to Venezuela and Zambia.

Cadet pilots at the new university have flown over the East China Sea as well as over inland areas, where they carried out take-offs and landings, computer simulations on flight decks and other physical training and workshops, according to the PLA Daily report.

The university is the result of a merger between the navy’s aviation academy and its aeronautical and astronautical university, and will focus on training pilots and support crew for the country’s aircraft carrier battle groups.

Beijing has been trying to build up a blue-water navy that can operate globally and support its maritime security, including rolling out the Liaoning in 2012 and the new Type 001A this year.

Beijing-based military expert Li Jie said the navy had built up experience with its first aircraft carrier but now the priority was to train more fighter pilots within the navy as the fleet expanded.

“Carrier-based fighter pilots are the best in their field because they need to take off and land on a tiny runway on the flight deck, which is less than a tenth of the size of a land-based airstrip,” Li said, adding that it was better to start from scratch with cadets than try to teach senior pilots these skills.

Nearly all of the navy’s J-15 fighter jet pilots on the Liaoning were chosen from among the air force’s best, all of them with at least 600 hours of flight time under their belts.

“China didn’t have any experience with fighter jets on aircraft carriers until the Liaoning went into service. So when it came to training pilots for the J-15, the best way was to start with experienced air force pilots,” Li said.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: PLA Navy begins training own pilots for carriers

Hendrik_2000 said:

....

The report did not specify which training aircraft was being used, but experts said it was likely to be the L-15B Falcon supersonic advanced jet trainer developed by Hongdu Aviation Industry in Nanchang, Jiangxi province.

Chinese military websites have previously reported that the L-15B would be modified for aircraft carrier pilot training. The light attack aircraft is also used by the air force for training and has been exported to Venezuela and Zambia.

....

Click to expand...

To admit I'm very much sceptical both on SCMP's and Minnie Chan's reliability & credibility and even more on this. So far one L-15B-prototype/demonstrator is flying, in PLA-service this is called JL-10 and not L-15 ... however the fact that a carrier-capable variant based on the "B" is surely better suited than the current standard model is undeniable.

Deino

I guess normally the basic training with CJ 6 is then follow with advanced training with K 8 Then lift training with JL9 or L 15 The naval academy part is CJ6 and K8 Then when they graduate they will be assigned to the specialized training unit with JL9 or L15. So they planned to speed up the training and use L15 for both advanced jet raining and lift?

PLA Navy to streamline pilot training as more aircraft carriers expected
By Deng Xiaoci Source:Global Times Published: 2018/1/7 19:03:40


A PLA navy pilot prepares to fly over the Bohai Sea in 2016. Photo: VCG

As China's aircraft carrier fleet expands, the Chinese navy is exploring ways to streamline the training process for its pilots by introducing a new generation of aircraft to aeronautical university training programs, Chinese military experts said on Thursday.

According to the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) official website 81.cn, China's Naval Aeronautical University deployed a third generation domestically-made training plane for its pilot cadets in the skies of Bohai Bay on Tuesday.

Although the report did not specifically name the aircraft used in the training, Song Zhong, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times it was likely to be the Navy JL-10H, also known as the L-15B Falcon supersonic jet.

It marks the first public reported deployment of the L-15B jet trainer, which was developed by Hongdu Aviation Industry in Nanchang, East China's Jiangxi Province.

The use of such an advanced trainer jet at university-level training programs shows the PLA Navy is exploring a more streamlined training system which will conclude after only two stages at the university and the navy. This is a significant streamlining of the previous process, which involved a three-level system consisting of training at military bases between the two, Song said.

"The PLA Navy has indeed been devoting increasing efforts to training its pilots, especially for aircraft carrier-based planes," Zhang Ye, a research fellow at the People's Liberation Army Naval Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Testing the waters

China currently has only one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which was commissioned into service in 2012. The country's second carrier and the first domestically-built one, widely known as the Type-001A, is expected to soon undergo sea tests.

The sea trial for the Type-001A could be conducted as early as the beginning of 2018, Zhang Ye previously told the Global Times.

The Type-001A is similar in appearance to the Liaoning, and also has a ski jump-style launch ramp on its flight deck where aircraft are launched and recovered. It is thought to be able to carry about 40 jets, roughly the same number as the Liaoning, Yin Zhuo, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Equipment Research Center, told a China Central Television (CCTV) military program in December.

"The number of pilots for fixed wing shipboard aircraft should be around twice as many as the carrier can carry, that is to say, it will be somewhere between 80 and 100," Xu Guangyu, a retired major general and senior adviser of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Recruits needed

The Naval Aeronautical University opened in 2017, the result of merging the navy's aviation academy and its aeronautical and astronautical university, according to the PLA Navy official WeChat account on May 31. The university recruited 450 pilot cadets in its first round of admissions.

The Chinese navy will urgently need about 400 pilots, as China is expected to roll out at least four aircraft carriers in the near future, Song noted. He also stressed that instead of using pilots from the PLA Air Force who fly from ground bases and have developed a different flying experience than that needed for shipboard flights, it was better to train new pilots for aircraft carrier-based tasks.

The subjects for the navy-trained pilots cover the ski-jumping launch style for China's current aircraft carriers with upward decks, as well as catapult take-offs for the country's future straight-deck aircraft carriers using an electromagnetic launcher system, Xu said.

The catapult take-off training includes both ground-based and shipboard exercises. By the time the shipboard training is completed, China will have its third aircraft carrier with an electromagnetic launcher system ready, Xu noted.

The university has its main campus in Yantai, East China's Shandong Province, and three other campuses in Northeast China's Liaoning, North China's Hebei and Northwest China's Shaanxi Provinces.

The PLA Navy's pilot-training university facilities are mainly located in northern China because the region has better weather conditions and longer training-friendly hours for the pilots than the south of the country, Song said.

The first batch of navy-trained pilots successfully completed night missions over the South China Sea in a new type of fighter jet in August 2017.

Independently trained by the PLA South China Sea Fleet, the pilots underwent multiple night flight mission training, including solo flights, multi-fighter coordination, target search and strikes over the South China Sea, CCTV reported. All training missions were accomplished in one operation, it said.

JL-10: the latest news of the Chinese training plane

BY


The Chinese navy remains at the center of the news of the defense sector in China at the beginning of this year. After the news on the strengthening of its amphibious forces, such as and the entry into service of , which has provoked some strong reactions in Japan, or the admission to active service of a new Type 54A frigate and a corvette Type 056A, the air component of the Chinese naval forces is not left behind and has also its side a few new features, especially around its ability to better train student fighter pilots with the arrival, finally, of a new model of advanced training aircraft, the JL-10.

Until now, the various training organs of the Chinese navy rely on old-generation vectors such as the CJ-6, the JL-8 and the JL-9G to train the cadets of fighter jets on a duration going up to 5 years.

How to enable young pilot students to better understand the new generation of fighter aircraft, with more advanced and more advanced flight behavior and avionics, and to make the transition between the aircraft of the advanced training phase and that of the first line as gradual as possible, remains an open question for many years.

And the arrival of JL-9 and its variant JL-9G after 2010, which are developed on the basis of JJ-7A, itself derived from the ancient J-7, is finally a solution "Stop Gap" for the Chinese navy, which is being given by the Chinese state an increasingly important role to protect the interests of the country in recent years, both at sea and in the sky.

It is therefore perfectly logical for her to keep an eye on the new JL-10 program, which has been in development for a dozen years at Hongdu Aviation Industry Group (HAIG).

After first seeing the JL-10 that entered service with the Chinese Air Force, footage published in a report broadcast by HAIG shows that a training institution of the Chinese Navy, the University of naval aviation, has also received at least three aircraft in late 2017. It should be the same batch of aircraft that we mentioned in 2016 in the file " ."





3 new JL-10 joined the Chinese Navy recently (Image: HAIG)



Other JL-10s for the navy are in the factory testing phase (Photo: HAIG)


It should be noted that these naval devices carry a pale gray livery which is different from that of the Air Force, with the inscription 01 to 03 printed on the centreboard. Unfortunately their registrations, judged as sensitive information in China, were deliberately blurred in the video.

The nozzles of these marine JL-10s suggest that this is the AJT basic version without post-combustion. Therefore, they can not cross the sound barrier and should be especially affected for advanced flight training in the subsonic domain.

With the inauguration of the assembly line called "Pulse line" at HAIG, the production rate should multiply to meet the ever-growing need of the Air Force and the Chinese Navy. To cope with this new competition, GAIC, manufacturer of JL-9 and JL-9G who have also joined the same Chinese army corps, has launched at least two new advanced training aircraft projects, including one would already be on board aviation.

Note that the video broadcast by HAIG also revealed another interesting information on the JL-10, namely the beginning of flight tests of a new type of Air-Sol "Standoff" ¹ called TL-20.

(cont)
Note that the video broadcast by HAIG also revealed another interesting information on the JL-10, namely the beginning of flight tests of a new type of Air-Sol "Standoff" ¹ called TL-20.

Developed by the AVIC group, parent company of GAIC and HAIG also, it is a guided bomb equipped with a glider kit, whose size and size are close to GBU-53 / B Small Diameter Bomb II American that is designed to hit fixed targets on 110 km or moving targets on 72 km.

The data indicates that the new Chinese bomb has a search head with a dual mode guidance system, combining satellite guidance (GPS, Beidou, Glonass?), INS and millimetric radar.





The new TL-10 glider kit guided bomb (Images: HAIG)


It is also to see in the images that a naval officer was present at the time of the loading of the bomb on the prototype 433 of JL-10 / L-15. This could mean that the Chinese Navy is also interested in this type of specific ammunition for the LIFT version (Lead-In Fighter Trainer) of its future JL-10, for CAS-type missions against amphibious fleets or small fast craft in South China Sea or Taiwan Strait, knowing that the Taiwanese navy is studying a small missile stealth FAC project to defend its coasts.

Henri K.

Hendrik_2000 said:

JL-10: the latest news of the Chinese training plane

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

BY

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

....

Click to expand...

And all dare for is a clear serial number !!!!!