A new Chinese carrier, the Shandong, which entered service on 17 December this year, was shown in action in a report by Chinese CCTV7 channel. The report features Chinese J-15 4th-generation jets practicing takeoff and landing on the boat.
Both the J-15 and the Shandong are heavily based on Soviet design, with the J-15 based on the Su-33 jet and the Shandong based on the Project 1143, or ‘Kuznetsov-class’, carrier family. Currently, Russia has one Project 1143 ship – the eponymous Admiral Kuznetsov, which participated in Russia’s military operation in Syria.
Both the Su-33 prototype and the Soviet Varyag carrier were purchased by China from Ukraine, according to Russian media reports.
The Shandong, whose construction began in 2013, is China’s first completely domestically-built carrier. It can reportedly carry up to 36 jets, according to a Popular Mechanics report. This is China’s second carrier, complementing the Liaoning, another Kuznetsov-class carrier.