[The World Through Weapons] Chinese Aircraft Carrier Fighters Struggling Even to 'Take Off'

Pilot Shortage Makes Even Takeoff and Landing Training Difficult
Heavy Carrier-Based Aircraft with Weak Engines... Takeoff Becomes Even Harder

The J-15 fighter jet, the carrier-based aircraft of China's aircraft carrier. As a heavy fighter with a total weight of 33 tons after being armed, it is analyzed that fuel and weapon loading will be very limited to take off from the Shandong carrier's runway, which lacks a catapult. [Image source=Chinese Ministry of National Defense website/www.mod.gov.cn]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] On the 17th of last month, China’s first domestically produced aircraft carrier and second aircraft carrier overall, the Shandong, was commissioned at the Sanya Naval Base in Hainan, located in the South China Sea. Not only Southeast Asian countries with no aircraft carrier capabilities but also Taiwan and Japan, which are engaged in territorial disputes with China around the Taiwan Strait and the Senkaku Islands, became highly alert. Chinese aircraft carriers have been repeatedly crossing the Taiwan Strait and conducting power training in the North Pacific area, provoking neighboring countries.

However, within China itself, there are growing arguments about the uselessness of this aircraft carrier. Criticism has emerged that it is difficult even for carrier-based aircraft to take off, let alone rival the U.S. carrier strike groups. According to a report by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 28th of last month, not only the Shandong but also the Liaoning, which was commissioned in 2012, lack properly secured pilots. China’s carrier-based aircraft pilot training school was only established in 2013, after the Liaoning was commissioned, and pilots are still not accustomed to carrier takeoffs and landings. To have all 70 carrier-based aircraft deployed on the two carriers operationally ready, at least 70 skilled pilots are needed, but this number has not yet been secured.

Aircraft carriers require highly advanced training because their runways are much shorter than those of regular military airfields. Moreover, both of China’s two aircraft carriers lack catapults that assist in launching carrier-based aircraft. Without catapults that significantly increase acceleration during takeoff, pilots must take off from the old-style ski-jump ramps, and they are not yet skilled enough to do so. It is known that the Liaoning only achieved night carrier landings in May 2018, six years after commissioning. Since they cannot properly perform takeoffs and landings, they are far from being able to conduct realistic combat training.

The Shandong, China's first domestically produced aircraft carrier commissioned on the 17th of last month. Although it is said to have been independently constructed by upgrading the Liaoning, it is still evaluated to have many limitations for actual operational use. [Image source=Chinese Ministry of National Defense website/www.mod.gov.cn]

What makes things even harder for Chinese fighter pilots is the heavy weight of the carrier-based J-15 aircraft. The J-15 weighs 33 tons when fully loaded with fuel and missiles. Considering that the U.S.’s latest stealth fighter and large combat aircraft, the F-22, has a maximum takeoff weight of about 29 tons, the J-15 is extremely heavy. The problem is that it is impossible for the J-15 to take off from the Shandong under this weight.

According to the U.S. foreign policy and security magazine National Interest (NI), the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reported to Congress in January last year that “the maximum launch weight of aircraft on ski-jump style runways will be limited to 30 tons, and the J-15 fighter will not be able to carry both fuel and weapons, limiting it to simple missions over short distances.” The conclusion is that large special support aircraft such as aerial refueling tankers or early warning aircraft, which are much heavier than the J-15, cannot be operated at all. The Shandong is more likely to serve as a fighter transport ship rather than a carrier strike group, and it is difficult for it to perform beyond that.

So why does China use such a poor fighter as a carrier-based aircraft? There are reasons behind this. It is extremely difficult to obtain carrier-based aircraft. Carrier-based aircraft must be designed differently from regular fighters because they need to take off from short runways and engage enemies at sea. For example, even the F-35 fighter has completely different variants: the F-35A for ground combat and the F-35B for carrier operations. However, China neither had the technology to build proper carrier-based aircraft nor a source to import them.

The Russian aircraft carrier-based fighter Su-33 [Image source=Russian Ministry of Defense website/http://mil.ru]

The Chinese government is known to have acquired a prototype of the Russian Su-33 carrier-based aircraft through Ukraine in the past and copied it to create the J-15. However, the problem was that without core technology, they could not fully replicate the engine. As a result, the J-15 was born as a heavy carrier-based aircraft with weaker engine output, and Russia, angered by the unauthorized technology copying, refused to transfer Su-33 technology or license production, forcing China to develop carrier-based aircraft independently. The U.S. also declared that the F-35B would only be sold to allied countries, so no matter how much money China has, it cannot import it.

Consequently, skepticism has arisen within China about whether it is worth spending enormous amounts of money to maintain this paper tiger-like carrier strike group. Nevertheless, the Chinese government’s determination for maritime power projection remains strong. They have announced plans to build about five to six more aircraft carriers to establish an independent carrier strike group and to develop carrier-based aircraft separately. There are also reports that from the third carrier onward, they will be equipped with electromagnetic catapults. This is expected to intensify the maritime arms race across Northeast Asia more than ever before.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.