A newly released photograph has put the CNS Fujian’s electromagnetic catapult system in the spotlight. US military website The War Zone (www.twz.com) reported on July 9 that a J-15T carrier-based fighter had launched from the Fujian carrying four YJ-83K anti-ship missiles. It said this was the first time a J-15-series fighter had been seen taking off with four anti-ship missiles.
The fighter had engaged full afterburner before leaving the deck, and the outlines of all four missiles were clearly visible beneath its wings. The image offers more than a dramatic shot. It provides a concrete sign that the Fujian can catapult a heavily loaded aircraft into the air.
J-15T launches under full afterburner with four anti-ship missiles.
The War Zone concluded that Fujian’s electromagnetic catapult is unlocking the J-15T’s strike potential and creating a major deterrent for the US Navy. The report said China’s rapidly developing carrier force is overcoming a long-standing operational constraint: getting heavily armed, heavy strike fighters off a carrier deck.
That basic assessment fits the facts. More directly, however, the photograph is a key indication that Fujian’s electromagnetic catapult has successfully demonstrated heavy-load launch capability.
Why the Catapult Matters
The technical significance is straightforward. The “T” in J-15T denotes the catapult-launch variant, designed to take off at full load from carriers equipped with electromagnetic catapults.
Earlier J-15s on the Liaoning and Shandong relied on ski-jump decks. A ski-jump launch depends on the aircraft’s own speed as it crosses the upward-curving deck to generate lift. The heavier the payload, the less adequate the aircraft’s speed becomes at deck exit. That forces a trade-off between fuel and weapons.
Public footage has shown ski-jump-launched J-15s carrying no more than two YJ-83K anti-ship missiles. Carrying four YJ-83Ks with full fuel would be virtually impossible in ski-jump mode.
Ski-jump carriers limit heavy-load launches.
The YJ-83K is a mainstay subsonic anti-ship missile of the PLA Navy. Each missile weighs about 600 kilograms, meaning four add up to 2.4 tonnes.
Add the J-15T’s own takeoff weight and internal fuel, and the catapult must deliver substantial energy. The photograph shows the aircraft leaving the deck successfully under full afterburner. That points to three developments: stable and reliable electromagnetic-catapult thrust under heavy loads, calibrated carrier-aircraft launch parameters, and successful coordination with the arresting and recovery system.
With these three elements working together, Fujian’s carrier-aircraft launch-and-recovery system has entered a practical operational stage. The system is no longer simply a concept on deck.
A New Strike Equation
The tactical shift is even more direct. A single J-15T carrying four YJ-83Ks could strike at least four maritime targets in one sortie. It could also launch a four-missile saturation salvo against one high-value target.
With a combat radius of about 1,500 kilometers and a YJ-83K range of about 180 kilometers, one aircraft can cover a substantial maritime area. Fujian’s electromagnetic catapult also enables efficient sortie generation. A wave of J-15Ts could put far more anti-ship missiles into the air than carriers operating in the ski-jump era.
That changes the equation. The Fujian carrier group’s anti-ship firepower is moving beyond merely adequate and into a new class.
New carrier aircraft point to a next-generation strike system.
The Next Weapons Test
Still, outside observers should not overstate this development. The YJ-83K is a mature subsonic anti-ship missile that began entering PLA service in the early 2000s.
The supersonic YJ-15 and longer-range YJ-18 have both been in service for years. A stealth cruise-missile version, the YJ-18B, has also appeared publicly. The YJ-15 displayed in military parades is reported to reach Mach 3 to Mach 4 and have a range exceeding 400 kilometers.
The J-15T has now demonstrated that it can carry four medium-range missiles. In theory, it could eventually be adapted for heavier models. If future tests verify the carriage and launch of advanced heavy weapons such as the YJ-15, its strike power would show a more substantial breakthrough.
A Full Carrier System
CNS Fujian’s true value, however, lies in the wider system rather than in any one aircraft. The J-15T handles anti-ship strikes and long-range interception. The J-35 stealth fighter is intended for air-superiority penetration and deep strike, while the KJ-600 fixed-wing airborne early-warning aircraft provides broad-area situational awareness, command, and guidance.
Together, these three carrier-based aircraft types form a complete carrier strike system. The Liaoning and Shandong faced systemic shortcomings: they relied on helicopters for airborne early warning, lacked stealth fighters, and could not launch heavy fighters at full loads.
Fujian is addressing those gaps one by one. The J-15T’s full-load catapult launch is only one milestone in that broader process.
From Photo to Capability
A photograph is not the same as combat capability. Demonstrating the carriage and takeoff of four YJ-83Ks does not mean a full weapons-release test has been completed.
High-intensity sortie training, the rhythm of multiple catapult-launch waves, carrier-group coordination exercises, and realistic confrontation in complex electromagnetic environments all need time to mature. The road from a successful deck launch to sustained combat performance remains a long one.
Two years ago, when Fujian first put to sea, many people were still asking whether its electromagnetic catapult could work. The images now emerging suggest that Fujian has cleared its most difficult stage.
The Signal From Fujian
A single photograph can reveal more than an official announcement. The J-15T’s takeoff from Fujian carrying four anti-ship missiles sends an unmistakable signal: China’s carrier-based aircraft are beginning to realize the payload potential expected of a heavy fighter.
What could not be done before is now being achieved. Ranges once beyond reach are extending. How far this capability can develop will be answered by the live-fire test images that follow.
The Art of Stopping War
** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **
The smoking gun has just surfaced online. Screenshots circulating on the internet show a People's Liberation Army Attack-11 'Xuanlong' ('Mysterious Dragon') UAV firing a PL-15 medium-to-long-range air-to-air missile.
Attack-11 fires PL-15: stealth striker turned air combatant.
The Smoking Gun
Outside observers had already connected the dots. Judging from public models, airshow displays and related information, they had concluded that the Attack-11 can carry air-to-air missiles and perform air combat missions. These images, at minimum, corroborate that assessment at the evidentiary level.
The real significance runs deeper. The disclosure signals that the Attack-11's mission orientation is no longer limited to the traditional role of exploiting its own stealth for air-to-ground and anti-ship strikes. The drone is beginning to evolve into an air combat platform with manned-unmanned cooperative combat capability.
The Attack-11 UAV first stepped into public view at the 2019 National Day military parade. The AVIC 601 Institute developed the aircraft, and Hongdu Aviation Industry Group produces it.
The airframe is a pure tailless flying wing, with no conventional vertical stabilizer or horizontal tail. Stack on stealth coatings, internal weapons bays, stealthy intakes and treated engine exhaust nozzles, and the aircraft delivers superb infrared and radar stealth.
The spec sheet is compact but telling. According to relevant materials, the Attack-11 is 12.2 meters long and 2.7 meters high, with a wingspan of 14.4 meters. Its frontal radar cross-section measures less than 0.01 square meters. A single small turbofan engine drives the drone at high subsonic speed, out to a maximum range of 4,000 kilometers.
A frontal radar cross-section of less than 0.01 square meters means the aircraft shows up on an adversary's radar screen almost like a small bird or a faint patch of clutter. That amounts to extremely strong low observability.
Combine that with the favorable aerodynamics of the tailless flying wing, the Attack-11 can sustain a long cruise radius without ever engaging its afterburner. It can slip deep into an opponent's defense zones and remain hard to detect. That is the foundation for executing a wide range of high-risk missions.
Hidden bays carry air-to-ground or air-to-air — stealth preserved .
The Arsenal Inside: Internal Bays, Flexible Loadouts and the PL-15's Reach
The Attack-11 plays in a different league. Measured against the Attack-1, Attack-2 and Attack-3, unmanned attackers defined mainly by integrated reconnaissance and strike, it clearly belongs to a higher class of unmanned combat platform. Stealth lets it slip deep into an opponent's defenses for reconnaissance, precision ground strikes, suppression of enemy air defenses and anti-ship operations. Data links then tie it to manned fighters, letting it join air combat missions as their 'loyal wingman.'
The real firepower hides in its belly. Two internal weapons bays on the underside of the fuselage can be loaded with multiple types of weapons to match the Attack-11's multi-mission profile. Public information so far points to a strike and anti-ship loadout of six small-diameter precision-guided glide bombs plus one heavy precision-guided glide bomb, or eight medium precision-guided glide bombs. For air-to-air missions, each of the two internal bays carries a single PL-15 medium-to-long-range air-to-air missile.
The internal bays do double duty. They guarantee the munitions load while keeping externally mounted weapons from wrecking the stealth shape. That gives the Attack-11 a sound balance between firepower and stealth.
The missile itself deserves a closer look. The PL-15 medium-to-long-range air-to-air missile was developed and produced by China Airborne Missile Academy(CAMA). Public data describe a round 4 meters long, 203 millimeters in diameter and 210 kilograms in weight. It runs a dual-pulse solid rocket motor, reaches a maximum range of 200 to 300 kilometers, and carries a fragmentation warhead fitted with a radio proximity fuze.
The guidance system stacks layer upon layer. The missile applies a composite regime of 'inertial guidance plus BeiDou satellite guidance plus two-way data-link correction plus active radar terminal guidance.' Its active electronically scanned array radar seeker brings formidable detection and anti-jamming capability, a low probability of signal interception and a strong element of surprise. The dual-pulse motor design adds a second ignition in midcourse flight, stretching the PL-15's effective range. High terminal kinetic energy persists at medium-to-long distance, keeping the no-escape zone large.
Those specifications put it at the front of the pack. The technical benchmark ranks among the leaders in the international family of comparable air-to-air missiles. In overall performance it stands level with new-generation medium-range missiles such as the US-made AIM-120D, and some key parameters tilt further in its favor. That gives the Attack-11 a reliable munitions foundation for beyond-visual-range air combat.
One Fighter, Three Drones: Manned-Unmanned Teaming Goes Operational
In actual combat, the Attack-11 unmanned aerial vehicle carrying PL-15 medium-to-long-range air-to-air missiles teams up with advanced domestic two-seat fighters such as the J-20 and J-16 for manned-unmanned cooperative operations. CCTV's earlier public footage has already confirmed the arrangement.
CCTV's official briefing lays out the formula: one J-20 or J-16 fighter coordinates with three Attack-11 drones simultaneously in combat.
Teamed with stealth drones, fighters see farther, strike deeper.
The division of labor is sharp. The manned fighter handles battlefield situation assessment, mission authorization and core decision-making. The Attack-11 drones shoulder the high-risk work: firepower strikes, electronic support, decoying and reconnaissance.
That split frees the manned fighter from stacking every task onto its own platform. Datalinks pull the Attack-11 into a larger combat network, further widening the sensing range and firepower coverage of the friendly air combat system. The edge matters most against high-value airborne targets such as large enemy electronic warfare aircraft, transports, early warning planes and tankers.
With the Attack-11 scouting ahead and pushing firepower forward, manned jets can lock onto and strike enemy soft-spot targets at greater range. Valuable pilots no longer have to run major risks punching through an opponent's defenses.
Zoom out, and 'loyal wingman'-style manned-unmanned teaming is exactly the direction the world's major military powers are now exploring. The United States is advancing concepts that pair stealth drones such as the XQ-58A "Valkyrie" with manned fighters. Several European countries run similar cooperative combat programs.
China, by contrast, has taken the idea off the drawing board. CCTV's public footage, airshow displays and this live-fire launch screenshot show the country has pushed this form of operations from conceptual vision to actual application.
That leap reflects the overall progress of China's aviation industry across drone platforms, datalinks, sensors and munitions systems. It also signals that this combat system has reached considerable maturity.
The New Shape of Air Combat: From Manned Platforms to System Confrontation
So the real significance of this footage of a Attack-11 launching a PL-15 medium-to-long-range air-to-air missile is not the confirmation of a long-standing claim. The footage matters because it spotlights a shift in the very shape of the air force's future air combat.
In the past, the core of the air force's air combat still revolved around the contest for air superiority, with manned fighters at its heart.
In the future, the roles split. Manned fighters will command and decide, while drones take on tasks such as forward firepower strikes, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance. Multiple advanced unmanned combat aircraft can even join together into distributed operational nodes that support the manned fighters, boosting the air force's combat effectiveness.
This shift from 'manned platform at the center' to 'manned-plus-unmanned system confrontation' is likely to become an important direction in the evolution of the future air combat landscape.
