The state-run Chinese press on Sunday announced the success of the first takeoff and landing of a fighter jet on the aircraft carrier Liaoning, the first and only such vessel in the Chinese navy.
The first images of the new model J-15 fighter on board the Liaoning, which was commissioned earlier this year, were shown by China Network Television, the Internet channel of the state-run CCTV network.
The J-15 is the first Chinese multi-use fighter designed to be flown from aircraft carriers, according to the daily Global Times, which is usually the first Chinese media outlet to report the country's military advances.
Experts compare the technology used in the J-15 with that of the U.S. F-18 or the Russian SU-33.
The Liaoning was officially launched by the Chinese navy on Sept. 25 after a 10-year remodeling of the old Soviet vessel Varyag, which China bought from Ukraine 13 years ago.
The first tests of the new flagship vessel of the Chinese navy come at a time of maritime tension between China and its neighbors - Japan, Vietnam and The Philippines - over disputes regarding the sovereignty of several archipelagos in East Asia: the Spratly Islands, the Paracel Islands and Diaoyu/Senkaku.
Until the commissioning of the Liaoning, the Asian giant was the only permanent member of the U.N. Security Council not to have at least one aircraft carrier in its fleet.
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