They may not make it operational...in my book series I do not see them taking that track. But they are studying it and learning. They may end up doing something entirely different and unexpected...that's what I try and project, creating very capable STOL/VTOL carriers first in numbers for battling it out close in...followed later by larger deck carriers.
We shall see.
The key for me is the surge capacity they have for serial ship production. They are currently among the top 3 producers of marine tonnage. And if one were to include all the container cranes they are pushing out of there, they would be number one in terms of tonnage shipped. Imagine that capacity, or even a larger fraction of it, applied to serial production of miltary ships and subs.
"they are studying it and learning", while America maintains a collective amnesia of world war and communism. It seems we have achieved it from the legislature to the mid schools.