![]() ![]() China’s dated Liaoning carrier’s inferior catapult and ramp system to launch fighters severely limits the maximum operational weight of the J-15, reducing the total ordnance it can take into fight. With a faster top speed, greater maximum G-load, and slightly higher operational ceiling, China has been happy to contend that a dog fight between the two jets would undoubtedly result in a Chinese victory īut the J-15 is severely hindered by its launch apparatus. Technically speaking, the J-15 could be considered the superior fighter to America’s long serving (and fastest) intercept fighter, the F-15-at least on paper. The result is a carrier-based fighter that shares the Su-33’s folding wing design and overall appearance coupled with a few Chinese improvements like incorporating more composite materials to reduce overall weight. When the Soviets refused to part with their Su-33 design secrets, China purchased an Su-33 prototype aircraft from Ukraine, dubbed the T-10K-3, and quickly set about reverse engineering it. China’s J-15 serves as their primary carrier based aircraft, and if China had gotten their way, it would have been produced originally by simply purchasing the production line for the Su-33 (which is Russia’s carrier-capable version of the Su-27). ![]()
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