China still years away from full carrier squadron: analyst
Staff Reporter 2012-10-24 16:54
A Chinese J-15 fighter. (Internet photo)
It will take several more years for China to establish a fully operational carrier air wing, says Roger Cliff, a specialist from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, according to a piece by Wendell Minnick in the US-based Defense News.
Though photos of a Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark fighter flying above the new Chinese carrier Liaoning have been posted on websites operated by the Chinese government or military, Cliff pointed out that none of the pictures show a tailhook deployed on the jet and nearly all of the photos showed the J-15 in the air behind the Liaoning's ski-jump flight deck. "So it clearly had not done a takeoff from the ship," said Cliff, "more likely a touch-and-go or fly-by."
As the PLA's Navy Air Force does not have enough carrier-capable aircraft and the Liaoning is too small to accommodate a full wing, Cliff said it will take China several more years to establish such a division. "Launching and landing aircraft has to be a carefully choreographed operation," said Cliff. The carrier and wing commanders have to be very careful when launching all of their aircraft in rapid succession. "Otherwise, the first planes to take off will have burned through half their fuel by the time the last aircraft takes off," Cliff said.
After a mission is completed, the planes must be landed one by one and moved out of the way before the last one runs out of fuel. During a mission, the crew aboard the aircraft carrier must learn how to maintain, refuel and rearm the aircraft as quickly as possible. "The less efficiently you do all this, the fewer sorties you generate, and the less effective combat power the carrier has," indicated Cliff, "I am sure they will master all that in time, though."
