The J-15 is a carrier-based fighter developed by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation after China acquired an unfinished Su-33 prototype from Ukraine sometime in 2001. While the J-15 appears to be structurally based on the Su-33, the indigenous fighter features Chinese technologies as well as avionics from the J-11B program.

The Shandong was commissioned in December 2019 and is the first carrier completely built in China. It will join the carrier Liaoning but will be equipped with 44 J-15 aircraft, 8 more than the Liaoning. There are plans to build several more carriers over the next decade.

Designed by the Soviet Union to challenge the superiority of fourth generation US fighters such as the F-15 Eagle, the Su-27 was first flown on May 20, 1977. This one seat Mach-2 fighter had the Soviet Union's first operational fly-by-wire system. The aircraft is very large compared to the MiG-29, its closest Soviet counterpart, but it is built with a high percentage of titanium, which helps minimize its weight. It is exceptionally agile and is perhaps most famous for its "Cobra" maneuver, which is a short, sustained level flight at a 120 degree angle of attack, often performed at air shows.

Info: J-15 Flying Shark - PLANAF, #70, Carrier Shandong, 2020