The island fitted aboard Type 001A
What the island may look like
http://www.eastpendulum.com/2eme-porte-avions-chinois-recoit-ilot
Posted on 09/29/2016 6:11:34 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
BEIJING --- Photos about the progress of China's first home-made aircraft carrier were revealed online again lately. Britain's Jane's Defence Weekly claimed that the carrier island is already lifted in place, a milestone before China's second aircraft carrier enters water.
Military expert Cao Weidong said in an interview that China's first home-made aircraft carrier is likely to have Active Phased Array Radar (APAR) and can carry 40-50 aircraft of various types at most. Laser weapon will probably find its way to future carriers and large vessels too.
According to Cao, carrier island installation is the last step of building the carrier body, after which the carrier will have outfitting. Based on the speed of aircraft carrier construction in other countries, island installation takes at least half a year. "But our aircraft carrier will be ready to enter water at the end of this year or early next year, which is pretty fast."
CCTV quoted foreign media as saying that the upper-structure of the carrier island has two new rectangular structures that can facilitate the installation of China's new X-band APAR.
Cao added that APAR meets the combat demand of China's new aircraft carrier and China's demand for developing IT weapon because it not only sees farther, but also captures a large number of targets.
The radar performance of China's first home-made aircraft carrier is better than carrier Liaoning, so the employment of APAR is highly possible, which will largely enhance the carrier's combat capability based on its longer detection distance and better ability of capturing the targets.
Some expert said in an interview that the use of new equipment like laser weapon in the future aircraft carrier will reinforce its defense capability and overall combat performance.
Regarding whether the first home-made aircraft carrier will be fitted with laser weapon, Cao Weidong said the existing laser weapons in strong military powers like the US are not large enough to destroy incoming missiles and large vessels, and they are just equipped in few vessels for trial use.
However, laser weapon is doubtlessly one of the directions for future weapon development because it changes the firing speed and use of traditional ammunitions. China is developing relevant equipment too and they may be fitted in large vessels and carriers in the future.
Someone familiar with the matter previously predicted that the new home-made carrier is able to carry 40-50 aircraft including 24-32 J-15 fighters, early warning aircraft, electronic combat aircraft and helicopters. This is an improvement over carrier Liaoning that can carry 24 J-15 fighters.
Cao Weidong agreed to the numbers. According to him, the first home-made carrier has a medium-and-large tonnage and can carry 40-50 aircraft at most, including the same number of fixed-wing fighters as those onboard Liaoning.
Helicopters used for early warning, submarine searching and transportation will also be fitted. "The first home-made carrier has a tonnage close to Liaoning's and they both have ski-jump deck, so the number of onboard aircraft won't increase too much," Cao said.
-ends-
The island fitted aboard Type 001A
What the island may look like
http://www.eastpendulum.com/2eme-porte-avions-chinois-recoit-ilot
Made with high quality Chinese steel.
Obama just directed his senior officers not to say anything that might come across as being competitive with China.
I wonder how well built this carrier really is since it takes about six years for a Nimitz class carrier to be built from the time the keel is layed.
Based on it’s appearance in the drawing, the photograph only shows the forward portion of the island. More to come?
As for the “laser weapon,” is there any indication the ship has the enormous electrical generating capacity needed to power it?
Ditto for a rail gun.
No unions in China. Albeit we do build a good product, the length of the product is based on the strength of the union. Stronger Union, longer project. Just the way it is. I know, I was a Union employee until I went into management.
Good, they will need it to find The Murphy.
” Laser weapon will probably find its way to future carriers and large vessels too.”
And it will probably have force shields and gravitons beams when those become available too.
The island in the dry dock does not look anything like the other picture.
Apparently, the USS Gerald R. Ford isn't showing itself to be such a good product.
We seem to have a carrier that is not able to come on line because our rail gun type launcher doesn't work.
USS Ronald Reagan? Or USS Gerald Ford? (Ford is still building/fitting out?)
The USS George W. Bush was three years from keel laying to launch, which is where this one is. It was another three years for finishing, trials, and commissioning. So we'll see how long it takes China to accomplish that.
Too much new technology all in one package. Teething troubles are to be expected. They'll work them out.
Or USS Gerald Ford? Read something a week or two back saying they were unable to make the trials because of the electric rail launch system. Drudge or somewhere. Since I only read Drudge and FR probably Drudge.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.