GAIC, which is a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), said last month that the naval version of the JL-9 had been completed, and published artists’ impressions of how the jet and carrier would look together.

While the construction of the Type 002 began in 2018 and is expected to be completed next year, it is not yet known when it will be ready to put to sea.

China said earlier it planned to have at least four aircraft carrier strike groups by 2030, which would require 200 aircraft – including fighter jets, helicopters and assorted surveillance planes – and about 500 pilots.

Learning how to take-off and land on a flight deck less than 300 metres (980 feet) long takes time, and although the PLA Navy has been teaching its own pilots – rather than recruiting them from the air force – since 2017, the lack of a suitable training aircraft has meant it has had to rely on simulators.

The modified JL-9 is also much cheaper than the J-15, according to Beijing-based military commentator Zhou Chenming.

“The delivery of the naval version JL-9 trainer will save the navy a lot of money,” he said, adding that a twin-engined J-15 cost at least US$61 million, while a single-engine JL-9 cost only about US$10 million.

“The J-15 is expensive because it is an attack fighter jet and needs to be fitted with sophisticated devices and weapons, but a trainer doesn’t need to carry so many items.”

GAIC had also developed an export version of the JL-9 trainer, which could be used as a light strike fighter, which might find a market in developing nations, Zhou said.

Meanwhile, Macau-based military expert Antony Wong Dong said that another carrier training plane – based on the JL-10 already in service with the PLA Air Force – was also being developed by Hongdu Aircraft Industry Group, another subsidiary of AVIC.

“The air force version of the JL-10 is based on the Russian Yakovlev Yak-130,” he said.