24 August 2010

New Chinese "Naval Aviation" Airfield?

As spotted by the excellent IMINT & Analysis blog, it looks like there's a new PLAN airfield for practicing carrier landings.

This airfield is likely a PLAN facility, and may represent the first facility destined to house the PLAN's J-15 carrier-based fighter. The J-15 is a Chinese-produced Su-27K (FLANKER-D) derivative. Photographs of the first prototype currently undergoing flight tests indicate that the aircraft is a derivative of the Chinese-produced J-11B, a modified Su-27SK featuring Chinese avionics, weapons and engines. The J-15 features the canard foreplanes and short tail sting of the Russian Su-27K, but possesses the modified radome and modified wingtip missile rails only found on the J-11B. At this time the J-15 prototype apepars to retain Russian Al-31F engines, but may be fitted with the indigenous WS10 in the future. Alternatively, as the Al-31F is a proven naval aviation powerplant, production J-15s may retain this engine.



By: Brant

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