Why it matters that China’s advanced fighters can use all its carriers

China’s older aircraft carriers can operate more closely with the more advanced Fujian than previously thought, observers said following PLA exercises showing upgraded fighter jets taking off from the older Liaoning carrier.

Images taken during a 40-day mission in the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean that ended on June 22 showed multiple J-15T jets taking off from, and landing on, the Liaoning.

China operates three aircraft carriers, which use two launch systems.

The older Liaoning and Shandong both launch jets from an upwardly curved “ski jump” deck. The Fujian, China’s newest carrier, is equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system – technology that allows planes to be launched more frequently and with heavier loads. Only China and the United States have deployed this technology.

The J-15T, a variant of China’s first carrier-based fighter, can be launched from an electromagnetic catapult.

Military specialists said the images suggested the J-15T could take off from and land on all of China’s aircraft carriers, with implications for the country’s integrated combat capabilities.