AIRCRAFT
Shenyang J-15 Chinese Flanker “Flying Shark”
SCALE & KIT
1/72 Trumpeter
MODELER
Kitti Tatsumaki
HISTORY
The Shenyang J-15 (Chinese: 歼-15) NATO reporting name: Flanker-X2 , also known as Flying Shark (Chinese: 飞鲨; pinyin: Fēishā), is a 4th generation, twin-jet, all-weather, carrier-based fighter aircraft in development by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and the 601 Institute for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s aircraft carriers. It is developed from J-11B as well as from studying of a prototype of Su-33. An unfinished Su-33 prototype, the T-10K-3, was acquired from Ukraine in 2001 and is said to have been studied extensively, reversed 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 indigenous fighter features Chinese technologies as well as avionics from the J-11B program. In February 2018, discussions about a replacements of the aircraft appeared in several Chinese media outlets including Xinhua and China’s main military newspaper, contending the shortcomings of the aircraft are obvious since it still belongs to the 4th or 4.5 generation fighters, thus China urgently needs a 5th generation successor to it, one that will be based on J-20, J-31, or a new design.
PHOTO GALLERY
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