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Friday, 2 January 2009
PLA Said to Eye Four Carriers
The People’s Liberation Army may build up to four medium-sized aircraft carriers by 2020, with the first two being launched in six years, a military source said.
The People’s Liberation Army may build up to four medium-sized aircraft carriers by 2020, with the first two being launched in six years, a military source said.
China’s first aircraft carrier would be built along the same lines as the Varyag class, a former Soviet carrier type with a displacement of 65,000 tonnes, he said.
“The first carrier will be launched before 2016. If the trial voyage and other operations go smoothly, we expect China would form the four battle groups by 2020,” he said.
The expert said China still had to solve many technical issues such as synchronising different on-board combat systems. The first Chinese carrier would feature new radar, weapons and communications systems, he said. Some are indigenous designs and others would be imported, chiefly from Russia and Ukraine.
Making the different systems work together, though, would be a challenging task.
“As soon as we can get through all these difficulties, we can build as many as we want, because China’s capabilities of shipbuilding and copying other countries’ technologies are very efficient today,” he said. China would not be overambitious and aim for super-aircraft carriers like America’s, because the PLA had no intention of becoming a global force like the United States or Russian navies.
“We plan to build four battle groups simply because we need an all-weather navy force to safeguard our energy routes on the high seas as well as to protect our territorial waters in the South China Sea,” the source said. Each group would spend three months a year in harbour, on average, for maintenance and repair.
They would be assigned to the PLA’s fleets in the South China and East China seas.
The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun and the Russian state news agency Itar-Tass have reported that China will start building two mid-sized aircraft carriers this year, for completion in 2015. Besides those two carriers, China would complete an unfinished ex-Soviet aircraft carrier moored in the northeastern port of Dalian, Liaoning, to provide training for carrier-based pilots and crews, the newspaper said.
The unfinished carrier remained in a Ukrainian shipyard until 1998, when a Macau-based Chinese company bought it for US$20 million.
Beijing has mentioned plans to build aircraft carriers several times in recent months.
On December 23, Ministry of National Defence spokesman Huang Xueping said Beijing was considering building a carrier to protect its national interests - Beijing’s first public confirmation of the plan.
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PLA Said to Eye Four Carriers
Minnie Chan
2 January 2009
The People’s Liberation Army may build up to four medium-sized aircraft carriers by 2020, with the first two being launched in six years, a military source said.
China’s first aircraft carrier would be built along the same lines as the Varyag class, a former Soviet carrier type with a displacement of 65,000 tonnes, he said.
“The first carrier will be launched before 2016. If the trial voyage and other operations go smoothly, we expect China would form the four battle groups by 2020,” he said.
The expert said China still had to solve many technical issues such as synchronising different on-board combat systems. The first Chinese carrier would feature new radar, weapons and communications systems, he said. Some are indigenous designs and others would be imported, chiefly from Russia and Ukraine.
Making the different systems work together, though, would be a challenging task.
“As soon as we can get through all these difficulties, we can build as many as we want, because China’s capabilities of shipbuilding and copying other countries’ technologies are very efficient today,” he said. China would not be overambitious and aim for super-aircraft carriers like America’s, because the PLA had no intention of becoming a global force like the United States or Russian navies.
“We plan to build four battle groups simply because we need an all-weather navy force to safeguard our energy routes on the high seas as well as to protect our territorial waters in the South China Sea,” the source said. Each group would spend three months a year in harbour, on average, for maintenance and repair.
They would be assigned to the PLA’s fleets in the South China and East China seas.
The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun and the Russian state news agency Itar-Tass have reported that China will start building two mid-sized aircraft carriers this year, for completion in 2015. Besides those two carriers, China would complete an unfinished ex-Soviet aircraft carrier moored in the northeastern port of Dalian, Liaoning, to provide training for carrier-based pilots and crews, the newspaper said.
The unfinished carrier remained in a Ukrainian shipyard until 1998, when a Macau-based Chinese company bought it for US$20 million.
Beijing has mentioned plans to build aircraft carriers several times in recent months.
On December 23, Ministry of National Defence spokesman Huang Xueping said Beijing was considering building a carrier to protect its national interests - Beijing’s first public confirmation of the plan.
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