How many carrier-based fighters are needed for the Chinese carrier-based aircraft wing is a difficult topic to answer. There are very few countries in the world that are equipped with aircraft carriers, except for China, the United States, Britain and France and other countries equipped with traditional aircraft carriers, other countries are building light equipment on the basis of amphibious assault ships, equipped with vertical take-off and landing carrier-based fighters, such as the Spanish and Australian navies are equipped with amphibious assault ships, and the amphibious assault ships of Spain and Australia are made in Spain, of which the Canberra-class amphibious assault ship of the Australian Navy is the Spanish foreign trade version.
At the same time, the new flagship of the Turkish Navy is also built on the basis of the amphibious assault ships of the Spanish Navy. The Spanish Juan Carlos I amphibious assault ship, integrating and integrating aircraft carriers, dock landing ships and light aircraft carriers, etc., to create a multi-purpose amphibious ship with a displacement of 27,000 tons, positioning a "strategic projection ship", using a combination of direct flight deck and bow slip jump take-off deck design, can deploy 12 F-35B vertical take-off and landing fighters and 10 carrier-based aircraft
As for the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, which is actively modifying the Izumo class *** Aircraft carrier, build it as a light aircraft carrier, of which the second ship Kaga aircraft carrier refit ended, the bow from trapezoidal to square, while laying high-temperature resistant materials on the deck, to adapt to the American F-35B fighter, this quasi-aircraft carrier in the early stage of construction, it retains the potential of aircraft carrier modification, after the end of the refit full load displacement of up to 30,000 tons, is a proper light aircraft carrier, can deploy 18 F-35B fighters, the future Izumo will also be converted into an aircraft carrier, into a real light aircraft carrier.
Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force procured 42 F-35B fighter jets from the United States, each deploying two Izumo-class aircraft carriers. According to the deployment of 18 F-35B fighters, it can meet the needs of aircraft carriers, while the US Navy is equipped with 11 aircraft carriers, 10 carrier-based aircraft wings, and 10 aircraft carrier strike groups.
Each aircraft carrier of the US Navy is equipped with 4 fighter squadrons, which are 4 F A-18E F or 3 F A-18E F and 1 F-35C fighter squadron, and the number of fighters reaches 44, which means that the US Navy is equipped with 440 carrier-based fighters. U.S. Navy aircraft carriers can usually build 90 standard carrier-based fighters and carrier-based fighters such as SH-60 carrier-based fighters and F A-18E F carrier-based fighters, and their combat power surpasses the traditional air forces of most countries.
China currently has three aircraft carriers, namely the Liaoning, Shandong and Fujian, except for the Fujian ship, which is in outfitting tests, the Liaoning and Shandong ships have joined the North Sea and South China Sea fleets, and the two aircraft carriers carry J-15 carrier-based fighters.
The Liaoning is modified on the basis of the Soviet Union's Varyag aircraft carrier, and is a sister ship to the Russian Navy's Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, and the two are identical in hull structure. The Russian side has revealed that the Liaoning can carry 36 carrier-based aircraft, including 4 Z-18J early warning aircraft, Z-18F anti-submarine aircraft, Z-9C search and rescue *** and 24 J-15 carrier-based fighters.
After China's first domestic aircraft carrier Shandong was put into service, it attracted great attention from the world, comparing the Shandong ship with the British Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, there are many similarities between the two aircraft carriers, using a glide take-off mode, but the differences include the Shandong ship using a short glide jump take-off to block the cable landing, while the British aircraft carrier uses a short glide jump take-off and vertical landing.
In terms of size and tonnage, the Elizabeth-class has a displacement of 65,000 tons, a length of 284 meters, and a width of 73 meters, which is close to the size and tonnage of the Shandong ship, while the Elizabeth-class adopts a double-ship island design, with a flight deck area of 19,500 square meters, while the flight deck area of the Shandong ship is estimated to be 15,000 square meters, which determines that there is a gap between the two aircraft carriers in the number of carrier-based aircraft.
Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers are equipped with 70 carrier-based aircraft at their limit, but the usual configuration is 40 carrier-based aircraft in a wing, including 36 F-35B fighters, with 24 as standard. The British Navy's purchase of 48 F-35B fighters and the allocation of them to two Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers can be seen from 24 aircraft carriers each, which is so poor as the flagship of the British Navy.
The Shandong ship can be equipped with 44 carrier-based aircraft, including 32 J-15 carrier-based fighters, 4 Z-18J early warning Z-18F anti-submarine aircraft, Z-9C search and rescue*** The total number of J-15 carrier-based fighters manufactured exceeds 62, speculating the number of carrier-based fighters carried by China's first two ships.
China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, will carry a larger number of carrier-based aircraft, including more types of carrier-based aircraft, including the Shandong. As an aircraft carrier with a full load displacement of more than 80,000 tons and a catapult take-off and interception landing mode, carrier-based aircraft include J-15 catapult version and J-15D electronic warfare aircraft, fifth-generation stealth carrier-based aircraft, fixed-wing early warning aircraft, Z-20 and Z-18 carrier-based aircraft, etc., a total of about 60 carrier-based aircraft.
According to the US Navy's retired Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier carrier-based aircraft standard, it can be equipped with 80 carrier-based aircraft of various types, and the number of carrier-based aircraft carried by the Fujian ship is likely to be more than 70, considering the reduction in the number of J-15 carrier-based fighters, it is possible to deploy 75 carrier-based aircraft, reaching the peak of conventional aircraft carriers.
China's three aircraft carriers, carrying nearly 100 carrier-based fighters, are at least 120 carrier-based fighters, taking into account land-based testing and training.