PLANAF Shenyang J-15

Last crawled date: 1 year, 1 month ago

The Shenyang J-15 (Chinese: 歼-15), also known as Flying Shark (Chinese: 飞鲨; pinyin: Fēishā; NATO reporting name: Flanker-X2, is a Chinese all-weather, twinjet, carrier-based fourth-generation multirole fighter aircraft developed by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) and the 601 Institute, specifically for the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF) to serve on People's Liberation Army Navy's aircraft carriers.

An unfinished prototype Su-33, the T-10K-3, was acquired by SAC from Ukraine in 2001 and was said to have been studied extensively and reverse-engineered, with development on the J-15 beginning immediately afterward. While the J-15 appears to be structurally based on the prototype of Su-33, the fighter features indigenous Chinese technologies as well as avionics from the Shenyang J-11B program. In February 2018, discussions about replacing the aircraft appeared in several Chinese media outlets including Xinhua and China's main military newspaper, discussing that it belongs to the 4th- or 4.5-generation fighters. Thus, the J-15 is viewed as an interim carrier-based fighter until a fifth-generation successor enters service, one that may be based on the Chengdu J-20 or Shenyang FC-31.