J-15 locks onto Japan's F-15, U.S. authoritative journal analyzes: Who would have the advantage if war breaks out?
The article does not indulge in emotion but instead provides a rather calm yet undeniable judgment from three dimensions: equipment generation gap, combat system, and battlefield environment. Once an aerial conflict breaks out in the Western Pacific, the J-15B clearly has an advantage over Japan's Air Self-Defense Force's F-15J, which also sounds a warning for the Pentagon.
The arguments are as follows: Although the J-15B is still classified as a "fourth-and-a-half generation" fighter, it integrates a large number of fifth-generation aircraft technical features—such as active electronically scanned array radar, digital avionics systems, stronger electronic warfare capabilities, and high integration with advanced domestic missiles.
In contrast, most of Japan's current F-15Js are old models that were put into service in the early 1980s, with their original design even dating back to the early 1970s American Air Force F-15A version. Even some F-15Js have undergone mid-life upgrades (such as the J-MSIP program), their core architecture remains in the era of mechanical scanning radar, unable to support the high-speed data processing and multi-target tracking required for modern beyond-visual-range air combat.
Japan has long relied on the E-767 airborne early warning aircraft to provide battlefield situational awareness. This airborne early warning aircraft based on the Boeing 767 platform indeed has a longer range and longer endurance than carrier-based early warning aircraft, but the problem lies in that its AN/APY-2 radar is essentially a product of the 1980s, using a mechanical rotating antenna, with low refresh rate and weak anti-interference capability.
China has not yet deployed fixed-wing carrier-based early warning aircraft on the Liaoning or Shandong aircraft carriers (the KJ-600 is expected to be deployed with the Fujian aircraft carrier), but has begun to use land-based early warning platforms such as the KJ-500 on a regular basis, and coordinates with the J-15D electronic warfare aircraft.
The key point here is "system confrontation." The J-15D, as a dedicated electronic warfare aircraft, can suppress enemy radar, communication, and data links. Once the F-15J loses effective guidance from the E-767, its already outdated onboard radar will find it difficult to function effectively in a complex electromagnetic environment.
In other words, even if Japan tries to make up for this through early warning aircraft, such remediation may have limited effectiveness against China's increasingly mature integrated electronic warfare, early warning, and strike system.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1851011244010505/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.