Author Topic: China Develops Specialized Aerial Refueling  (Read 565 times)

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China Develops Specialized Aerial Refueling
« on: January 16, 2014, 11:18:20 pm »
by Strategy Page

The first Chinese combat aircraft built specifically for aircraft carrier use, the J-15, appears to have been equipped with the in-air refueling pod. These pods contain additional fuel and the hose and drogue refueling gear for getting the fuel to other fighters. Thus when a carrier launches four fighters, two can be equipped with the refueling pod and transfer their fuel to the other two, providing those two with more range and time in the air. This reflects the fact that carrier aircraft can carry more weight in the air than they can when taking off.

This refueling system is particularly useful for carriers (like the Chinese one) that use the STOBAR (short take-off but arrested recovery) system that substitutes a “ski jump” flight deck to replace the catapult. The CATOBAR (catapult) system is used by American carriers and allows aircraft to take off carrying more weight (of fuel or weapons) than STOBAR launched aircraft. The U.S. and Russia have such a pod system but it has never been seem on Chinese aircraft before. 

The J-15 started mass production in late 2013, a year after some J-15s were seen making touch and go landings on the new carrier Liaoning. After that several J-15s have were seen at navy air bases painted as combat (gray), not development (yellow), aircraft. By the end of 2013 about twenty J-15s had been built for testing. The first five were exclusively for testing while those built after that were apparently intended to become service aircraft once they had all the tweaks and modifications (for problems discovered during testing) applied. This allowed China to get moving with training pilots and deck crews to handle actual carrier operations. This process could take up to a decade in order to create a core of experienced officers and NCOs (petty officers) who can safely and efficiently supervise these inherently very dangerous operations.

It’s long been noted that the J-15 can’t take off from the Liaoning carrying a lot of bombs or anti-ship missiles because of its STOBAR launching system. Ski jump decks are okay for fighters flying air defense missions but not anything requiring heavy loads. In contrast the new Chinese carrier under construction appears to be designed for catapult (flat, not ski jump deck) operations. Moreover, the front wheel of the J-15 is of the type required to handle catapult launches. Meanwhile the Liaoning J-15s can use the refueling pods if they have to carry out some long-range attack mission (with smart bombs or anti-ship missiles). 

For most of the last decade China has been developing the J-15, which is a carrier version of the Russian Su-27. There is already a Russian version of this, called the Su-33. Russia refused to sell Su-33s to China, when it was noted that China was making illegal copies of the Su-27 (as the J-11) and did not want to place a big order for Su-33s but only wanted two, for "evaluation." China eventually got a Su-33 from Ukraine in 2001, which inherited some when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.

The first prototypes of the J-15 were under construction for two years, and the aircraft made its first flight in 2010. The Russians were not happy with this development. Russian aviation experts openly derided the J-15, casting doubt on the ability of Chinese engineers to replicate key features of the Su-33. That remains to be seen, as the Chinese have screwed up copying Russian military tech in the past. But the Chinese have a lot of experience stealing foreign technology, so the J-15 may well turn out to be at least as good as the Su-33. China openly boasts of the J-15 being the equivalent of the 30 ton American F-18E. That remains to be seen, and right now the 33 ton J-15 seems more like the earlier 23 ton F-18A (a similar looking but quite different design from the F-18E).

Meanwhile, Russia itself has stopped using the Su-33 in favor of the cheaper MiG-29K (which is also being used by India). The 33 ton Su-33 and the 21 ton MiG-29K were both designed were to operate from the three 65,000 ton Kuznetsovs the Soviet Union was building in the 1980s. But when the Cold War ended in 1991, only the Kuznetsov was near completion. The second ship in the class, the Varyag, was sold to China and was rebuilt as the Liaoning. The smaller Gorshkov was rebuilt and sold to India (who believed the smaller MiG-29K was more suitable for this carrier). The Russians still use the Kuznetsov, which has never undergone refurbishment.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20140116.aspx

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Re: China Develops Specialized Aerial Refueling
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2014, 11:44:24 pm »
One of the things I did while on Active Duty was serve on the Catapult Test Team on USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS George Washington.  The way we test a shipboard catapult is by using a series of carts called deadloads.  Each deadload has a different weight...from about 12,000 pounds all the way up to the heaviest at 110,000 pound.  They all run on heavy aircraft tires and are built out of heavy plate steel that provides floatation chambers.

A steam catapult's performance can be plotted on a curve, with deadload weight and catapult control setting yielding a predictable endspeed.  Each catapult is certified for aircraft operations dockside by firing a series of deadloads and launching them over the side and into the water, where they are recovered by tug, lifted, drained, serviced and sent back up to the flight deck for another shot.  You end up shooting each one several times at different Capacity Selector Valve (CSV) settings, and plotting the acceleration and endspeeds.  Fascinating stuff.

That 110,000 pound deadload is the motherlode.  We end up shooting it at the maximum setting on CSV, so the launch valves open completely in a second, and put the maximum amount of steam pressure for the longest period of time on the entire launching engine.  When you can throw 110,000 pounds of dead weight, no engine whatsoever, with all of the speed being generated by the cat, off the pointy end of the ship doing 150 MPH and landing almost a quarter mile off the bow, that is power that is simply unmatched by any other Navy in the world.

The aircraft the Chinee are using on their toy are no match for what we can throw into the air every 30 seconds during a launch cycle.  The steam catapults on a Nimitz class carrier are capable of ripping the nose wheel right off of an airplane.  They are also capable of putting an aircraft that is fully armed and fully fueled in the air, ready to kick ass immediately, not screw around swapping gas with other fighters.

 :smokin:

SPQR

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Re: China Develops Specialized Aerial Refueling
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2014, 11:46:31 pm »
One of the things I did while on Active Duty was serve on the Catapult Test Team on USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS George Washington.  The way we test a shipboard catapult is by using a series of carts called deadloads.  Each deadload has a different weight...from about 12,000 pounds all the way up to the heaviest at 110,000 pound.  They all run on heavy aircraft tires and are built out of heavy plate steel that provides floatation chambers.

A steam catapult's performance can be plotted on a curve, with deadload weight and catapult control setting yielding a predictable endspeed.  Each catapult is certified for aircraft operations dockside by firing a series of deadloads and launching them over the side and into the water, where they are recovered by tug, lifted, drained, serviced and sent back up to the flight deck for another shot.  You end up shooting each one several times at different Capacity Selector Valve (CSV) settings, and plotting the acceleration and endspeeds.  Fascinating stuff.

That 110,000 pound deadload is the motherlode.  We end up shooting it at the maximum setting on CSV, so the launch valves open completely in a second, and put the maximum amount of steam pressure for the longest period of time on the entire launching engine.  When you can throw 110,000 pounds of dead weight, no engine whatsoever, with all of the speed being generated by the cat, off the pointy end of the ship doing 150 MPH and landing almost a quarter mile off the bow, that is power that is simply unmatched by any other Navy in the world.

The aircraft the Chinee are using on their toy are no match for what we can throw into the air every 30 seconds during a launch cycle.  The steam catapults on a Nimitz class carrier are capable of ripping the nose wheel right off of an airplane.  They are also capable of putting an aircraft that is fully armed and fully fueled in the air, ready to kick ass immediately, not screw around swapping gas with other fighters.

 :smokin:

Wait 10 or 15 years.