China PLA Navy Builds Aerial Refueling Pod For J-15 Fighter Aircraft

China’s PLA Navy has successfully built a refueling pod for the J-15 fighters, according to Russian center for analysis of strategies and technologies report last week.

China has copied the current design from the Russian built UPAZ-1A aerial refueling pod and will be fitted to modified J-15 fighters for aerial fueling. The pod was designed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

The pod is larger and heavier than the Mk 32 pod which is used by western air forces. It takes 5.3 minutes to complete refueling 9.5 ton J-15 fighter aircraft. It takes 8.2 minutes for a Mk 32 to be refueled, Li Xiaojian, a Chinese military expert was quoted as saying by Want China Times.