The Shenyang Aviation Corporation of China has created a copy of the Russian Su-33 carrier-based fighter. The model was named J-15 (Jian-15), Interfax reports with reference to the May issue of the authoritative military publication Kanwa Asian Defense, which is published in Canada and Hong Kong.
An experimental Soviet-era T10K aircraft, which the PRC inherited from Ukraine, was taken as the basis for the Chinese fighter. Previously, Chinese engineers were unable to solve the problem of the folding wing of carrier-based fighters, but now this problem has been solved.
It remains unclear whether the new aircraft made its first test flight. After factory tests, the fighter will be sent to the Yangliang Air Force Center, since the Chinese Navy does not have its own naval aviation test center.
Earlier, Beijing tried to buy two Su-33 aircraft from Russia in order to take a closer look at the aircraft's performance characteristics, but Moscow refused to sell, fearing a technology leak and remembering the situation with the J-11 aircraft, RBK writes.
Recall that Russia, wishing to enter the Chinese arms market, handed over to Beijing a "screwdriver" assembly of Su-27SK fighters, but this step did not justify itself. As a result, China uncovered the technology, modernized the aircraft and began mass production, calling it the J-11. Thus, the PRC may squeeze the Russian Federation out of the arms market of third countries, experts suggest.
Russia began deliveries of the Su-27SK to China in 1992. Then an agreement was signed for 76 fighters of this class, and in 1995 the Russian Federation sold a license for the production of another 200 aircraft. Since 1996, under the name J-11, they have been built in Shenyang using Russian components.
By 2003, Russia supplied 95 sets for the J11, for another 105, China has not signed a contract. Officially, the Chinese side explained the unilateral withdrawal from the agreement by the limited combat capabilities of the aircraft. Gradually, the proportion of Chinese components began to grow and eventually reached 90%. Already in 2007, China demonstrated the first prototypes of the J-11B - an almost complete copy of the Su-27SMK.
At the moment, China has established mass production of the J-10, J-11 and FC-1 fighters, which are copies of the Russian Su-27/30 and MiG-29. In the near future, the PRC intends to build and sell at least 1,200 fighters at prices lower than the Russian "originals".
Characteristics of the Russian Su-33
The Su-33 is a fourth-generation carrier-based fighter and has been in service with the Russian Navy since 1991. The first flight of the fighter developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau took place in 1987. Since 1992, serial production has begun at the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
The Su-33 is intended for air defense of naval ships against enemy air attack weapons. It is made according to the "triplane" scheme with the front horizontal tail mounted on the wing inflow. The fighter is also equipped with a folding wing and stabilizer. An in-air refueling system has been introduced with a retractable fuel intake rod.
The Su-33's armament includes a built-in cannon, Mosquito anti-ship missile and air-to-air missiles. The aircraft is equipped with a powerful sighting system, consisting of a radar station and an optical-location system that allows attacking an enemy aircraft in complete radio silence.
In the cockpit there are flight and navigation instruments that allow you to perform flights and combat missions in any weather conditions. Information is displayed against the background of the windshield. The aircraft is equipped with a helmet-mounted target designation system of the NSTs-1 type. This system captures the target with the missile homing heads at which the sighting device attached to the pilot's helmet is directed.
The aircraft has no analogues among foreign aircraft and is significantly superior to the R-14 and R-18 fighters - the main carrier-based fighters of the Navy and the US Marine Corps.
