China’s new fighter jet has 3,000 km range

Beijing, Nov 29 (IANS) Chinese fighter jet J−15, which successfully landed on the country’s first aircraft carrier, has a range of about 3,000 km without refuelling and strong sea−air combat capability, said an official.

Zhang Junshe, deputy director of the country’s Naval Military Studies Research Institute, told the People’s Daily that the successful takeoff and landing of the J−15 is a clear sign of an increase in the fighting capacity of the aircraft carrier.

Carrier−based aircraft is an important symbol of the fighting capacity of an aircraft carrier, he said.

Zhang said the J−15 is China’s first generation of independently developed carrier−based aircraft.

It is a third−generation fighter with strong sea−air combat capability and supersonic speeds. It can carry multiple types of long−range anti−ship and air−to−air missiles.

The J−15 has a range of about 3,000 km without refueling, and thus has strong long−range combat capability, said the media report.

After the successful takeoff and landing of the carrier−based aircraft, the navy will now test other components of the carrier battle group.

IANS 2012-11-29 11:28:05