J-15 fighter jets on the Liaoning aircraft carrier. © Kyodo
Sputnik: Chinese Navy Short on Carrier-Based Fighters, Only Has Problem-Ridden J-15
With China’s first indigenously designed aircraft carrier, the as-yet-unnamed Type 001A, set to join the country’s first carrier, the Liaoning, in active service in the coming months, the People’s Liberation Army-Navy is confronting an interesting problem: it doesn’t have enough fighter jets to fill both ships.
The Liaoning can carry 40 aircraft, but operating with a short take-off and arrested recovery system instead of a catapult means that a good portion of its air forces are rotary-wing aircraft — helicopters. It only carries 26 of the PLA-N's carrier-based Shenyang J-15 fighters. When the Type 001A, now in its second stage of sea trials, begins active patrols in the coming months, it won't have enough J-15s to form a complete squadron: according to the PLA Daily, the service only has 40 of the jets.
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WNU Editor: The Chinese Navy may be short on carrier-based fighters, but they are still going to continue building these aircraft carriers.
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