Free Republic

Chinese State Media, in a Show of Openness, Print Jet Photos By MICHAEL WINES Published: April 25, 2011 BEIJING — The J-15 Flying Shark is China’s newest attack jet, a sinuous fighter with the folding wings, shortened tail cone and bulked-up landing gear it needs to serve on China’s first aircraft carrier, which is expected to start sea trials soon. It is indisputable evidence of China’s growing mastery of military technology. Also military technology of Russia and Ukraine, albeit not entirely with their consent. Barely two weeks after splashing photographs of the aircraft carrier on the Internet, China’s state media...

New shipborne navy jet fighter makes waves among analysts Unofficially dubbed the J-15, the new People's Liberation Army navy's "flying shark" features enlarged folding wings, twin nose wheels and an arresting hook for use on China's first aircraft carrier. Photo: Courtesy of netizen Zhang Xinliang By Xu Tianran Photos of a domestic-made shipborne J-15 heavy fighter were released on Sunday afternoon on Internet defense forums, prompting many military observers to coo about China's aircraft carrier capacity. "Heavy shipborne fighters will boost the aircraft carrier fleet's air defense capability and enhance the fleet's strike ability," said Lan Yun, editor of the...

J-15 Dreams Greg Waldron on December 2, 2010 Since joining the Flightglobal team I've been burning to write about the elephant in the room: China's aircraft carrier. That she exists is beyond question. Formerly the Russian carrier Varyag, the flattop is tied up in Dalian covered by scaffolding, a tantalizing plume of smoke rising from her island. What's going on in there? Engines gearing up? Apparently she even has a name, Shi Yang, and an auspicious number, 83. Shi Yang was an admiral who invaded Taiwan in 1861. There is plenty of speculation on the Internet, but from the Chinese...

Russia's government said last week that China's prototype J-15 jet fighter is a pirated copy of the Sukhoi Su-33 fighter bomber, highlighting China's continued reverse-engineering and technology acquisition piracy. Russia’s Novyy Region news agency reported June 4 that Chinese engineers have assembled the first prototype of the J-15, an advanced warplane considerd a “fourth-generation deck-based fighter.” “The copy was developed on the basis of one of the first Sukhoy prototypes — the Soviet-era T10K experimental aircraft, which China received from Ukraine in 2005,” the report said. “Earlier, Beijing tried to purchase two Su-33 aircraft from the Russian Federation, but Moscow...

China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corporation created a copy of a Russian deck-based Su-33 fighter jet. The Chinese model of the aircraft was called J-15, Interfax reports with reference to the May issue of the Kanwa Asian Defence military publication. The Chinese fighter jet is based on the Soviet T10K training aircraft, which China received from Ukraine. Chinese engineers found it very difficult to solve the problem of folding wings of deck-based fighter jets. Now the problem has been solved. It is not clear yet, if the new plane has performed its first flight yet: the Chinese Air Force does not have...

China's J-15 carrier-based fighter will not be able to compete with Russia's Su-33 fighter on global markets because it is inferior to the Russian aircraft, a Russian military analyst said on Friday. China since 2001 has been developing the J-15 naval fighter, which is believed to be a clone of Russia's Su-33 Falcon-D. China bought an Su-33 prototype earlier from Ukraine, and used it to develop the new aircraft. The J-15 is expected to be stationed initially onboard the Chinese Varyag aircraft carrier currently being fitted in the port of Dalian. China bought the unfinished Admiral Kuznetsov class aircraft carrier...