China Reveals Upgraded Carrier-Borne J-15 Fighter Jet

China recently revealed an upgraded J-15 ship-borne fighter jet with enhancements to its missile pylons, infrared search and track system (IRST), an AESA radar and ability to operate with a catapult launch system.
The upgraded carrier-borne jet has wrapped up test flights, the semi-official Global Times reported over the weekend. The aircraft will be able to operable on carriers that use ski-jump aircraft ramps and new carrier such as the Shandong that uses catapult launching system.
The Shandong embarked on a voyage in the South China Sea in early winter for realistic combat-oriented exercises including the arrested landing of fighter jets, the People's Daily reported on Sunday.
Shenyang Aircraft Co, the aircraft's manufacturer, put up images of the upgraded J-15 on its social media account. The photos show a J-15 fighter jet taxiing on a runway under the assistance of a tug truck. This J-15 has many differences compared with previous ones, and this means it is an upgraded version, eastday.com, a Shanghai-based news website, reported on Wednesday.

Judging from the photo, the new J-15 uses a new type of wingtip pylon - the same type as the J-16 fighter jet - to carry China's air-to-air missile, the PL-10, while the previous version could only launch the older PL-8. The photo also shows that the infrared search and track systems in front of the cockpit and the front of the wings were changed, which could mean the avionics systems of the new J-15 were improved, eastday.com said.
Another major change is the difference in the radar, as the lightning diverter stripes on the new radome are not the same as the old one, the report pointed out. This may mean that the upgraded J-15 could have switched to an advanced, active electronically scanned array radar system, which enables the use of China's most advanced PL-15 beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.