Meet the Su-33 That Became the J-15 for China: When people think about China’s rise as a naval power, they often focus on its rapidly expanding fleet of aircraft carriers, destroyers, and submarines. Less attention, though, has been paid to the aircraft that make those carriers useful.
Without the J-15 “Flying Shark,” China’s carrier program would have struggled to mature into the force it is today (and into the force it is clearly becoming). Without an unfinished Soviet-era prototype sitting in Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the J-15 might never have existed.
Su-33 Image: Creative Commons.
Image: Creative Commons
China’s Quest for a Carrier Fighter
Let’s wind the clocks back to the 1990s.
At that time, China was in the throes of modernizing its military.
Beijing knew it required a blue-water navy capable of challenging the United States.
The only way China could gain such capability was by building its own aircraft carrier force.
But carriers are only as effective as the fighters they carry into battle.
At the time, Russia possessed one of the world’s few purpose-built carrier fighters: the Sukhoi Su-33, a navalized variant of the Su-27 Flanker.
Beijing wanted it. Moscow refused. And Moscow’s refusal came from a painful previous experience the Russian Armed Forces had with China.
You see, Beijing had acquired licenses to build Soviet-era Su-27 fighters for itself from Moscow. That purchase became the basis for China’s J-11, an aircraft that closely resembled Russia’s Su-27.
Su-33. Image: Creative Commons.
Russian Su-33. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Moscow understandably accused Beijing of reverse-engineering the plane rather than continuing to purchase the Su-27 from Russia (Beijing’s entire raison d’etre has been to indigenize as much of its own weapons and platforms as possible).
Regardless, Russian leaders resolved never again to make that mistake with China. So, when Beijing wanted to purchase the Su-33 for itself, Russians refused.
Moscow’s representatives told their Chinese interlocutors that the only way Russia would agree to the sale would be for China to procure a large production batch rather than a token lot.
Moscow thought the Chinese only wanted a handful of the Su-33s to copy the design and then cut the Russians out of any future sales of their Su-33. Beijing flatly refused these terms.
Ukraine’s Unexpected Role
Beijing took a different path, though.
After the USSR collapsed, Ukraine inherited a variety of unfinished military hardware, including the crucial Su-33 prototype known as the T-10K-3.
Although Ukraine had no practical use for it, this aircraft became a pivotal element in China’s naval aviation development, representing a rare opportunity to leap forward in strategic independence.
Around 2001, Beijing purchased the prototype, reportedly paying only a few million dollars for it.
The prototype provided detailed insights into the aircraft’s aerodynamic design, reinforced carrier landing gear, folding wings, arresting hook, structural layout, and numerous engineering features that would have been difficult to replicate from photographs or public sources.
Combined with China’s growing experience manufacturing Flanker-derived planes (thanks to their J-11 program), this information filled critical technical gaps in China’s naval aviation capabilities.
From Soviet Design to Chinese Warplane
Although the Chinese did, in fact, copy the basic Su-33 design, Beijing’s engineers changed much of the inside of the plane.
Indeed, modern combat aircraft are equally defined by their electronics as by their aerodynamics. China ultimately replaced (or redesigned) much of what made the Soviet-era Su-33 function.
By installing their own avionics, indigenously produced radar and electronic warfare (EW) systems, cockpit displays, and software, the Chinese basically changed the original Russian plane into something that might have looked similar but was fundamentally different.
Early designs of the J-15 Flying Shark relied upon imported Russian AL-31 engines. Over time, however, China transitioned to the domestically produced WS-10 engine family.
The J-15’s Growing Pains
The transition from Russian-made systems to Chinese-made ones was far from painless. Early J-15 models suffered from a series of highly publicized accidents and technical problems.
Flight-control software required constant refinement. Reliability concerns abounded. What’s more, the aircraft was heavy–and that weight limited its performance significantly.
Over time, though, those problems have been ironed out.
The Carrier Was Also Part of the Problem
Plus, some of the limitations Western critics highlighted in their early assessments of the J-15 Flying Shark were not problems derived from the plane itself.
They were outgrowths of the limits of China’s first two aircraft carriers, Liaoning and Shandong.
That’s because those two carriers, being based on older Soviet carrier designs, employed ski-jump launch ramps rather than steam or electromagnetic catapult systems.
While cheaper and mechanically simpler, ski jumps impose severe restrictions on aircraft weight during takeoff.
Pilots launching from ski-jump-equipped carriers must, therefore, sacrifice fuel, weapons, or both to become airborne safely.
Even a perfectly designed aircraft would suffer under those conditions. China’s newest aircraft, the Type 003 Fujian, employs electromagnetic catapults similar to those used by America’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford.
These new catapults make it possible for China to launch planes with significantly heavier amounts of fuel and weapons onboard while further expanding the range of aircraft that can operate from the carrier.
Russia’s unwillingness to sell the Su-33 to China ensured that China’s journey toward strategic independence would be fully realized.
For Beijing, the unfinished prototype proved to be one of the most consequential military bargains of the post-Cold War era.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is the Senior National Security Editor at 19FortyFive.com. He also manages The Weichert Brief on Substack. Weichert also hosts “National Security Talk” on Rumble. He is the author of four bestselling national security books, the most recent of which is A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine (Encounter Books). Follow him via Twitter/X @WeTheBrandon.
