China lands first jet on aircraft carrier

**SarasotaRepub** · 11-25-2012, 08:09 PM

ChiCom Carrier...

By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 5:39 PM EST, Sun November 25, 2012

(CNN) -- China announced Sunday that it had landed a fighter jet on the deck of an aircraft carrier for the first time, but it may be years before the ship is fully operational.

China's "first generation multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet," known as the J-15, successfully completed its first landing on the Liaoning, an aircraft carrier China built using an abandoned Soviet hull, according to China's official news agency Xinhua.

The J-15's capabilities are comparable to the Russian Su-33 jet and the U.S. F-18, Xinhua reported. The Chinese-designed jet can "carry multi-type anti-ship, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, as well as precision-guided bombs, the report said.

**djones520** · 11-25-2012, 08:35 PM

Biggest thing that jumped out at me was the comparison of the J-15 to an F-18. So China is just now capable of producing aircraft that are 35 years old, and these are their front line fighters. This speaks on several differant levels. It's good, because our F-22's, and F-35's (if they ever actually happen) should have little trouble dealing with them. Our mainstay aircraft though are the equivalent fighters, except they are 30-40 years old, and will be even older if a conflict ever comes around. China is not a military power that is comparable to our own yet, but they are making strong efforts to become a power that we'd be hard pressed to defeat on their turf. Especially with our aversion to sustaining casualties.

**Starbuck** · 11-26-2012, 01:41 AM

Originally Posted by djones520

Biggest thing that jumped out at me was the comparison of the J-15 to an F-18. So China is just now capable of producing aircraft that are 35 years old, and these are their front line fighters. This speaks on several differant levels. It's good, because our F-22's, and F-35's (if they ever actually happen) should have little trouble dealing with them. Our mainstay aircraft though are the equivalent fighters, except they are 30-40 years old, and will be even older if a conflict ever comes around. China is not a military power that is comparable to our own yet, but they are making strong efforts to become a power that we'd be hard pressed to defeat on their turf. Especially with our aversion to sustaining casualties.

I'm with ya. Landing one fighter on an aircraft carrier is a big deal, but those of us who have been around carriers know how incredibly complicated and dangerous it is to handle traffic coming and going. I would be happy to see the Chinese spend money trying to catch up.

**Rockntractor** · 11-26-2012, 01:56 AM

China bought the stripped-down 300-metre (990-foot) carrier from Ukraine nearly 10 years ago and refurbished it at the northeastern port of Dalian.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...3109258fda.2c1
They still had to build off from Soviet technology, this is a refurbished soviet carrier, I'm sure much if not most of the technology in the fighter is also from Russia.
They will catch up because for the next 4 years we will move backwards to meet them.