Landing on an Aircraft Carrier

On the Drilling Platform, several workers watched the departing carrier-based fighter jets with excitement. They did not look away until the aircraft vanished from sight, their eyes full of envy. What man did not want to fly a fighter jet?

One worker asked quietly, "Did you get it on video?"

"I got all of it! That was so cool! He was practically a sniper—one burst wiped out a whole nest of monkeys!"

Another worker looked at the Huawei in his hand. On its screen, footage of the J-15's dive attack played over and over. The smooth, flowing assault had blown every speedboat apart!

"This..." A young worker who had always been biased against the country stared at the distant sea in disbelief. This was nothing like what people said online. Had they not said all they could do was protest?

"I already told you, watch less of that stuff."

"Yeah! You were right! I won't watch it anymore!" the young man said loudly. The facts were right before his eyes; there was no way he could make things up.

"I'll upload it to Bilibili later."

The drilling workers looked at the footage on the phone, preparing to add some stirring background music. March of the Steel Torrent would do. Naval forces with an army BGM—that was authentic~

"Cadet 189, report your position."

"This is 189. Altitude 8,000, heading 060."

At regular intervals, Liu Jun reported his position and altitude to the Liaoning. After that brief disturbance, Liu Jun was about to undergo Daytime Carrier Qualification Certification.

IFF Identification confirmed. He entered the carrier's air-defense perimeter and began descending. After passing through a thin layer of clouds, Liu Jun could already see the aircraft carrier on the distant sea. From the air, even the massive carrier was merely a small black dot. In the waters around it were the Liaoning's accompanying ships, her sword-bearing guards.

He continued descending and circled above the Liaoning, waiting to begin his qualification certification.

"Please land as instructed."

"Understood!"

After circling above the carrier twice, he received notice that he could begin the daytime qualification certification and entered the carrier landing procedure. He circled once more, adjusted his angle, and prepared to land on the carrier.

Even with the all-weather electronic landing aid system and the Fresnel lens, landing on an aircraft carrier was far from easy. Carrier-based aircraft did not land as effortlessly as they did on land. The sea was not calm, and the carrier swayed slightly with the waves while sailing onward. Landing on this moving airport was like dancing on a knife's edge. One mistake meant a wrecked aircraft and a dead pilot!

He reduced throttle, then added power, repeatedly working the throttle. He made minute adjustments to the control stick, fine-tuning the J-15's nose. He lowered the flaps to increase lift and improve low-speed handling. As his altitude and speed continued to drop, he lowered the landing gear and tailhook.

After crossing an invisible line, Liu Jun entered a five-colored world. The Optical Landing System began assisting his landing.

The Optical Landing System consisted of the deck-edge unit, power supply, and control panel. It was mounted on a stabilized platform near the port side in the middle of the flight deck, unaffected by the carrier's pitching and rolling. It projected five layers of beams parallel to the flight runway and held at a certain angle to the sea, forming five planes of light. The key was the orange beam, with yellow above and below it and red farther beyond, while green reference beams stood on both sides.

Orange meant the correct landing path. Yellow meant descend. Red meant climb. Green meant left or right, requiring a horizontal correction.

He reduced throttle and made subtle adjustments to the aircraft's angle, aligning the nose with the deck landing zone. He barely needed to adjust anything before entering the orange beam zone directly. Like a bridge of light, it guided him toward the deck.

Closer!

Even closer!

The carrier, which had originally been only a small black dot, was now as large as a transport truck. It kept growing as the distance closed, as if a photo from state media had suddenly turned into one from foreign media, enlarging at lightning speed.

He raised the nose slightly and continued reducing throttle, controlling his landing speed at 300 to 400 kilometers per hour while maintaining enough power to wave off. If he failed to catch an Arresting Gear Cable, he could still take off again.

At that moment, inside the island, the captain and political commissar watched 189's landing through binoculars.

"Oh, so that's him? The Coast Guard specifically asked us to commend him?" Senior Colonel Political Commissar Yang Wei asked with a smile.

At first, when the Coast Guard asked for help, they had merely wanted him to lend a hand. Who would have thought he would nearly wipe out the Pirates in one sweep? Supposedly, those Pirates had been scared senseless. Many had even wet their pants, and during the Coast Guard's interrogation, they told them everything they knew.

"How about that? Tsk, tsk. Outstanding cannon-fire results."

That was why Zhang Jun had taken an interest in Liu Jun earlier. Most other cadets merely passed their live-fire cannon shooting tests, but Liu Jun's results were outstanding. His accuracy had earned endless praise from the flight instructors.

Now they knew why. He truly was exceptionally good. As the captain, Zhang Jun could not have been more pleased with Liu Jun.

In modern aerial warfare, missiles had become increasingly advanced and intelligent, making cannons largely obsolete. Cannon shooting was no longer valued as highly either; passing was enough. The fact that the J-20 had done away with its cannon made that clear.

But! The cannon was a pilot's final honor and final weapon, just like an infantryman's bayonet. Daring to meet the enemy bayonet-to-bayonet was a tradition!

"He really is impressive."

Yang Wei spoke honestly. For soldiers, combat achievements spoke for themselves. One was one, and two was two!

According to the Coast Guard's report, Liu Jun had sunk five pirate speedboats using only thirty cannon rounds. In other words, two short bursts had taken out one speedboat. A high-speed fighter's window for ground attack lasted only an instant; his cannon-fire ability had already reached "sniper" level.

"Going for the third cable?" Captain Zhang Jun immediately saw from the J-15's descent posture that Liu Jun intended to catch the third Arresting Gear Cable.

Arresting Gear Cables were an important component of the arresting system. To ensure the safety of carrier landings and increase the chance of an aircraft's tailhook catching a cable, flight decks generally had four to six Arresting Gear Cables.

The first Arresting Gear Cable was generally placed 36 to 51 meters from the rear edge of the flight deck, with each cable spaced approximately 12 to 18 meters apart. The crash barrier was placed ahead of the final cable. It was not normally raised, but when needed for a landing, deck personnel could erect it within two minutes. If an aircraft charged into the barrier, it would be forced to stop.

Catching the second or third Arresting Gear Cable was the ideal landing. The first and fourth cables both had their own issues: catching the first meant the aircraft was too slow, while catching the fourth meant it was too fast.

Zhang Jun watched the J-15 descend steadily. The instant its landing gear touched the deck, the entire aircraft slammed heavily downward onto it—a violent landing aesthetic unique to naval aviation. Then its tailhook precisely caught the third Arresting Gear Cable.

When the tailhook caught the cable during a high-speed landing, the cervical and lumbar vertebrae had to withstand an enormous impact. Due to inertia, the instant the aircraft was caught, blood rushed toward the head, the eyes became heavily bloodshot, vision narrowed, and everything appeared red. But for Liu Jun, it only felt somewhat uncomfortable.