Chinese navy struggles to find pilots for aircraft carriers

A PLA Navy pilot in a J-15 takes to the skies after leaving the deck of the aircraft carrier Liaoning.China's navy, the world's second-most powerful - with two aircraft carriers commissioned and another launched in June - is struggling to meet increased demand for qualified ship-borne fighter jet pilots, analysts said.

The Fujian is equipped with advanced electromagnetic catapults, similar to those on the US supercarrier Gerald R Ford , while China's first two carriers featured ski-jump designs, so the navy will have to master a new aircraft launch and recovery system. "In the past few decades, the US military was using the T-45 Goshawk carrier-qualified trainer to train its pilot cadets," it said.

China's only ship-borne fighter jet, the twin-engine single-seat J-15 Flying Shark, has been dubbed the world's heaviest carrier-borne fighter. "Why China's J-15S hasn't been turned into a trainer like the Americans' is a perplexing problem," Wong said, while adding that one factor could be the cost, which would be much higher.

The PLA Navy started training its own pilots - rather than picking qualified candidates from the air force - following the establishment of the Naval Aeronautical University in Yantai, Shandong province, in 2017 - adopting the same approach as its US counterpart.

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