First J-15 Exercises in the Pacific Ocean
http://www.eastpendulum.com/premiere-pontee-des-j-15-dans-locean-pacifique
SEA
BY
HENRI KENHMANN
2018-04-23
"The J-15s are allowed to take off to perform the anti-ship assault mission! "
On April 20, shortly after 10 am, several J-15s left the
Liaoning aircraft carrier's 14 ° rampf to conduct a naval battle simulation with the carrier group. The fleet is expected to "fight" against the OPFOR force represented by two Chinese Type 052C destroyers, the 150
Changchun and the 152
Jinan .
The group around the aircraft carrier
Liaoning and the dozen J-15s onboard is composed of two frigates and four destroyers latest generation of the Chinese navy. According to
the official report of the General Staff of the Japanese Armed Forces , the Chinese ships crossed the first chain of islands via the Bashi Strait, located in southern Taiwan, and entered the Western Pacific in the night of Thursday 19 April, before starting maneuvers in an area about 350 km south of Yonagunijima, on the east coast of Taiwan.
The Chinese aircraft carrier and its six escort ships (Photo: CNR 国防 时空)
It should be noted that this is the first time that the Chinese air group, normally composed of 24 J-15 fighters and a dozen Z-8 and Z-9 helicopters, have carried out air operations in the West Pacific. Until now the Chinese aircraft carrier has always been content to cross the area without conducting any aerial activity.
The exercise conducted by the
Liaoning Carrier Group , which aims to assess the "use of naval forces in high seas" according
to official statements , has been closely monitored by the Japanese Air and Naval Forces. . The latter sent a destroyer (JS
Akizuki ), two frigates (JS
Sawagiri and JS
Hamagiri ) and P-3C surveillance planes to follow the movements of their Chinese colleagues.
But contrary to all expectations, the island of Taiwan that seems to be directly or indirectly concerned by the recent maneuvers of the Chinese army has remained particularly silent about this event. No statement has been issued by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense since crossing the
Liaoning Group from its ADIZ in the south.
Apart from anti-ship missions, the articles on the media of the People's Army of China also mention other training topics, such as multi-dimensional reconnaissance and surveillance, tactical calculations, deployment of forces anti-aircraft, anti-ship and anti-submarine ... etc., which were conducted in the Pacific rapid exit of the Chinese fleet.
Another report released by the Japanese military indicates that the Chinese air carrier group joined the East China Sea on Friday, April 21 in the day, via the Miyako Strait, but the Japanese aircraft were no longer able to take a picture of it. all of the Chinese buildings as was the case the day before.
One of the J-15 carries a UPAZ-1A pod for buddy-buddy refueling
J-15s carrying real air combat missiles are on standby on the flight deck
The J-15 registered 118 carries a recording and simulation pod ACMI
After the first J-15 berths in the Western Pacific, the Chinese aircraft carrier is expected to return to Bohai Bay, in northern China, by today to conduct another round of maneuvering. to April 26th. It is believed that the 8th class of air carrier pilots could pass their certification at that time and join the Chinese naval air force if they make their first landing on
Liaoning .
Our forecast is for 34 to 46 the number of qualified pilots to go on the Chinese aircraft carrier by the end of 2018, which is to say that the training of pilots for the second Chinese Navy aircraft carrier, in arrangement currently at the Dalian Shipyard, has already begun.
In addition, several Chinese media such as iFeng and Sina have discussed the sea trial of the second Chinese aircraft carrier today, with the argument of three maritime zones closed by the Chinese authorities for "military maneuvers". But the first area just south of Dalian and indicated by the notification 辽 航 警 0081 is in fact a zone that has always been inaccessible.
The second, reported by the notification 辽 航 警 0082, would correspond to that dedicated to the certification of new pilots according to our analysis. The third, which is near the Bohai Shipyard in the north of the bay and more than 250 km from Dalian, is expected to be the area where another sea trial of a nuclear submarine is taking place.
Our estimate is still on the first test sea of the second Chinese aircraft carrier before the end of June. The 60,000 ton building was launched in April 2017, that is to say, a year ago.
The three closed areas for "military maneuvers" between 23 and 26 April (Image: East Pendulum)
The route of the current exit of the aircraft carrier Liaoning, the yellow part is to be confirmed (Image: East Pendulum)
To be continued.
Henri K.
