Though the Chinese Defense Ministry has stayed mum on the maiden voyage of the nation’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, photos and video clips have flooded the Internet since Monday, when the vessel was seen being towed out of its berth at the Dalian Shipyard.
The ship is now believed to be en route to designated zones for sea trials in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea off northeastern China.
China has apparently expedited the construction of the new warship now that it has come to grips with carrier design and technology inherited from the Soviet Navy, with the purchase and restoration of a rusty, stripped hulk as the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s first carrier, which was christened Liaoning.
The current excitement and nationalist pride on the part of many Chinese netizens notwithstanding, the fact that the sea trial of the PLA’s second carrier failed to pique too much interest in overseas media is perhaps an indication of how it actually measures up against its counterparts in foreign fleets.
Known specifications of the home-built carrier include a displacement of around 65,000 tons and conventional diesel and steam propulsion – similar to the Liaoning, of the Soviet-era Kuznetsov-class – plus a steam-powered catapult aircraft-launching system.
“It’s a brand-new carrier, but also the very epitome of the outdated technologies reminiscent of the 1980s era,” said Macau-based military analyst Antony Wong.
The US now maintains an unrivaled fleet of 11 carriers, all nuclear-powered and each capable of carrying and servicing 70 to 90 aircraft.
China is also facing a talent crunch as construction of its second home-made carrier is rumored to start soon in Shanghai.
On Monday, Chinese news portal Netease carried a commentary that had an objective reflection of the new carrier’s genuine strength.
It argued that both of the aircraft carriers that China has in hand are of the mid-weight range, roughly in the same league as the French Navy’s nuclear-powered, 42,500-ton Charles de Gaulle and the Royal Navy’s gas-and-diesel-propelled, 65,000-ton HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Still, China’s J-15 fighters are a big drag on the Chinese carrier group’s strike capabilities, given the fact that the Queen Elizabeth‘s air wing typically consists of F-35B Lightning fighters.
The indigenous Chinese carrier also looks like a minnow compared with the USS Gerald R Ford, commissioned last July as the epitome of US naval might. The Ford boasts a whopping displacement of 100,000 tons, in the supercarrier category, with two A1B reactors on board with a total output of 280,000 horsepower, 40% more than the steam boilers that propel the new Chinese carrier.
State-of-the-art electromagnetic launch pads are also up and running on the US carrier but the Chinese version of the advanced linear induction motors that catapult aircraft won’t be put into use unless the second home-made carrier is built, which still needs years to take shape.
kopya pa more!
Dave Ng um first off carrier based long range bombers exist.. Not to mention why does the us even need to use carrier based attacks if it came to that. Could use heavy bombers out of japan. And china is easily in range of heavy bombers from both Hawaii and china.
Supersonic undetectable nuclear powered smart missles are the future.
CHINA should be stopped from all its ambitious territorial expansion…..otherwise, a global conflict would ensue not seen before in human history
Yup, bigger they are, harder their fall. Having a big army might make you all powerful but dedicated soldiers of a third world country chased them away from Vietnam. There must be a cause n will to fight.
https://www.raytheon.com/news/feature/tomahawk_moving_target_sea
China is comming, it has to do it a step at a time, learn it a bite at a time, with the speed they are incorporating things the learned and the speed theyare making prototypes, sooner they will be there.
A Toy version & ugly copy of US carrier group, this is just for bullying operations of smaller countries????
Leandrei Pablo he he those sounds great facts for serious discussion lol
Ivo Kuroishijin Keep on dreaming!
Kier Valdez China already has larest PP economy in the world. It is not yet strong in military as US on global level that is truth but overall balance of power is going on its side, faster than many US military experts would be comfortable, again nothing US can do about it… At the moment China is quite aware that needs to do more so it will speed up, US had zero chance.
jejejejeje, go back to studies and learn furthermore the real power of America wich nothing on earth can match about it. Many false ideas are flooding the net about the hearsay power of China, Remember, US was the one who stop Japan in WW2, and that is the end of the war. China was just a baby that never defend herself despite it is a very large country. Almost 60 years after the war, now you are saying today that US has nothing to do againys China? Are you dreaming or just totally insane?v If China improve, much and more that America improve, only the difference is Amwerica is simple, not talkative about his power, in contrast, China shows her modern junks which he knows thqat can mamtch US which is very far in reality. If there is country can match US, maybe only Russia but still behind the USA. America n military is next to none!
Fyi Tomahawk is not capable of attacking moving target. US carrier based planes at current time do not have the range to hit Chinese ships if the latters are within 1st Island chain because of A2AD. USN plans to award RFP late this yr to winner of carrier based tanker contract competition. Existing tankers are vulnerable to J20 attack.
Google first before spitting rhetoric.
Richard Caroll A US Carrier Battle Group consists of 30~50 ships with the Carrier in the center, and thus provides multiple layers of protection against air, sea, underwater and land based assault. It is much easier to preemptively strikes on threats by taking the fights to them with carrier based combat aircrafts, drones and Tomahawks. I wonder how long it takes to disable the Chinese Armada…Some US sources say 20 Minutes with coordinated and simultaneously multiple targeting…
You are right. The age of the carrier is fading.
This is reminiscent of the USS Ranger. The Ranger was the first carrier built as a carrier by the US. She spent her life in WW2 in the Atlantic as she was too vulnerable to Japanese carriers.
Chinese military only looks mighty to the regional midget nations that it bullies..Chinese military does seemed to advanced their knowledge and combat ability rather rapidly but I bet my head that it is through its army of not soldiers but government employed hackers. A very well known fact of PRC is not about its creativity but it’s pirating others IP or cloning of others Intellectual properties, furthermore, Chinese habitual padding up of facts and capabilities also make it doubtful that a country will zero modern combat experience can top a country that has been fighting active wars in Afghanistan, Irag, Syria and many other proxy wars for decades.
The Gerald Ford and the new chinese carrier can each be put out of commission by a single missile landing in the flight deck. In this case the Ford is the bigger target.
What author do not say is speed with which China built this one is staggering. Basically China is going ultra fast in closing technological gap.
US should not be right now worried. Second carrier is already under construction and it will be larger model but still not real match. Real thing will be third type with which China will close all gaps.
But that is decades away.
For now those carriers are helping China to perfect its shuipbuidling capacities and to project its power thousand miles away in similar way US was doing. So Pacific is not any more US lake, it is a fact.
And China is not worried at all because of US carriers, right now already has enough strong army and means to suppress them in waters that are relatively close to its land. Us can not do anything about it, military power is going on Chinese side, nothing US can do about it.
Hopefully the two carriers will never meet in a 1 to 1 battle. Recent news on the Ford carrier is that it is still undergoing retrofits and was declared operational months ago despite its EMAL system being unreliable.