Chinese Naval Drills Reveal Two New Operational Fighters: How the J-15B and J-15D Enhance Aircraft Carriers’ Potentials

<p >Footage released by Chinese state media has for the first time confirmed that two new carrier based combat jets are now in operational service in the People’s Liberation Army Navy. These include the J-15B, a heavily enhanced variant of the country’s first carrier based fighter the J-15, as well as a twin seat derivative specialised in electronic warfare operations the J-15D. The aircraft were first unveiled in a landmark event for the fleet – namely the first known dual carrier operation which saw the country’s two aircraft carriers capable of accommodating fixed wing combat jets, the Liaoning and the Shandong, exercise together in the South China Sea. The carriers were accompanied by full strike groups, which included  three <a href=" target="_blank">Type 055</a><a href=" target="_blank"> Class </a>destroyers, four smaller <a href=" target="_blank">Type 052D Class</a> destroyers, one <a href=" >Type 054A Class </a>frigate, and two Type 901 Class fast combat support ships. At least one attack submarine was likely also present.</p><p ><img src=" title="J-15Bs and Two J-15s in Formation During Dual Carrier Drills"></p><p >Footage of the carrier exercises showed  at least 15 J-15Bs and at least two J-15Ds were deployed, alongside a small number of older baseline J-15s. The J-15 is a derivative of the <a href=" target="_blank">Soviet Su-27 Flanker</a> design, which China has very heavily enhanced domestically to provide distinct superiority over Russian built Flanker derivatives today. The J-15B has long been expected to provide far superior air to air capabilities to all Flanker variants before it including the Air Force’s <a href=" Russia’s Su-35. Advantages are thought to include higher use of more advanced composite materials for a lighter and more durable airframe, use of a more advanced AESA radar, and integration of advanced <a href=" coatings</a>, and use of some of the world's most sophisticated avionics and electronic warfare systems. Where the land based J-16 was <a href=" to have surpassed</a> the Su-35 in most parameters, particularly its sensors, electronics and armaments, the J-15B is reportedly better optimised for air superiority missions and was developed more than half a decade after the J-16 when China’s combat aviation industry had advanced considerably. While the J-16 and American F-15EX were previously considered the world’s premier fourth generation fighters in terms of the air to air potential, this position is likely to now be held by the J-15B.</p><p ><img src=" title="J-15Bs in Formation During Dual Carrier Drills"></p><p >Much like the<a href=" target="_blank"> J-16’s development</a> into a dedicated electronic warfare variant, the J-16D, the unveiling of the J-15’s own electronic warfare variant the J-15D provides potential to revolutionise the offensive capabilities of Chinese carrier air wings. The aircraft is expected to perform an analogous role to the United States Navy's E/A-18G Growler, which is based on the Navy’s <a href=" target="_blank">F-18E/F Super Hornet</a> fighter. The new Chinese aircraft has distinctive large wingtip electronic warfare pods, and lacks the infrared search and track systems and guns of other J-15 variants used primarily for air to air combat. J-15Ds are expected to serve as force multipliers for carrier air wings, significantly improving survivability by jamming enemy sensors, while also providing a highly potent asset for air defence suppression. Electronic warfare systems are built in across much of the aircraft’s fuselage, namely conformal and blade antennas, while a wide range of complementary classes of electronic warfare pods and air to surface missiles can be carried under the aircraft’s wings and below the fuselage. </p><p ><img src=" ></p><p >Much like the J-15B benefits from a much longer range, higher flight performance, larger radars, and larger weapons payload than the F-18E/F, so too does the J-15D enjoy similar advantages over the E/A-18G making it very likely the world’s most potent carrier based electronic attack aircraft. Both the J-15B and the J-15D are expected to also be deployed from China’s future carriers, including the country’s <a href=" target="_blank">first supercarrier</a> the Fujian which is currently in the advanced stages of <a href=" target="_blank">sea trials</a>. While the baseline J-15 was considered a relatively mediocre fighter class by the standards of the 2020s, the J-15B and J-15D effectively revolutionise the capabilities of Chinese carrier air wings with combat jets that have few rivals in the world in terms of performance and sophistication. Since the J-15 first entered service in the early 2010s, China has emerged as a world leader in tactical combat aviation as most conspicuously seen by its development of the <a href=" target="_blank">J-20 fifth generation fighter</a>. These advances provide its carrier air wings with a far higher international standing today than ever before, with a range of technologies invested in for the J-20 program such as composite materials, phased array radars and a range of missile systems all having made important contributions to modernising fourth generation fighters like the J-15.</p>