While the J-15T was designed to use an advanced launch system, new images show it operating from the older Liaoning carrier
2-MIN READ2-MINMeredith Chenin Hong KongandAmber Wangin BeijingPublished: 7:00pm, 2 Jul 2026Recent People’s Liberation Army exercises showed that China’s older aircraft carriers could operate more closely in tandem with the more advanced Fujian than previously thought, experts say, as fighter jets upgraded to use electromagnetic catapults were spotted on 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 currently 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 is equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system – technology that allows planes to be launched more frequently and with heavier loads. Only China and the US 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 that the images suggested the J-15T can take off from and land on all of China’s aircraft carriers, which had implications for the country’s integrated combat capabilities.
