China Secretly Constructing an Aircraft Carrier(54planes,13choppers,deployment in 2008)

Chosun Ilbo ^ | 06/30/05 | Song Ui-dal

[TigerLikesRooster]

/begin my translation

China Secretly Constructing an Aircraft Carrier

Hong Kong Economic Daily(Jing-ji-ri-bao) reports

2005/06/30

China recently completed the final design for an Chinese aircraft carrier, and start in early August to construct it in secret at Jiang-nan Shipyard, Zhang-xing Island near Shanghai, reported the June 29th issue of Hong Kong Economic Daily(Jing-ji-ri-bao,) quoting (Chinese) high-level military sources.

Costing 3 billion yuan(390 million dollars), which takes up 3% of Chinese military budget, this carrier, due to be completed next year if everything goes well, has top speed 30 knots per hour and  its maximal displacement is 78,000 ton. It is equipped with Russian engines and radars.

It will carry 54 fighter planes and 13 anti-submarine helicopters, and the introduction of latest Russian fighters(Su-33) is also in the works. When it would be in service in 2008, it is expected to boost Chinese naval strength.

The paper reports, "Zhang Guang-qin, vice minister of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, denied the rumor that a carrier is under construction. However, he emphasized  it is the sacred duty of the Chinese navy to safeguard the country's sovereignty of territorial waters. It is in this context which they go for the construction of the carrier."

(Song Ui-dal, reporting from Hong Kong)

/end my translation

[jaydubya2]

390 million dollars.

I thought our nuke carriers were in the 3 billion dollar area.

[Chode]

agreed...
but Taiwan is a self defense scenario and a carrier battle group wouldn't change their situation at all... other than maybe the submarines in the group. IMHO

[superiorslots]

Quote: 390 million dollars. I thought our nuke carriers were in the 3 billion dollar area



Your dealing with deceptive china here. Who knows what the real cost is..and it's actual length and capabilities

[Armedanddangerous]

"Sorry, we're all getting a bit old here. The USN surface fleet or subs no longer have Harpoons.."

Ooops...my bad..all I know about naval warfare I learned from Tom Clancy, and I gave up reading him when He dissed my president over the Iraq war.

[Chode]

they can attack any perceived threat with their AirForce from their airfields on Taiwan...
a carrier would just be a target without the ASW escort(carrier battle group) we have in our navy.
it's just not worth it.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Paul Ross]

However,this will soon change. How soon, is an open question. More and more Chinese are being exposed to the west and western concepts every day in their business dealings, schooling and in their spare time surfing the web and by watching American television.

Sorry, this day-dream...and indefinite time-table of "laissez faire" regime change won't get the job done. It didn't with the Soviet Union, either...contrary to Leftist-Xlinton-appointed-revisionists such as Thomas P.M. Barnett and his New York Times accomplice, Thomas Friedman... they didn't just fall of their own accord. They were pushed. It was accomplished by a multifaceted U.S.-directed campaign, a full court press, and leading the Charge, Ronald Reagan.

Read the late Constantine Menges' book, China: The Gathering Threat.

We need to confront their evil. Name it. Challenge them across the board. Get around, past and through their censorship, disinformation, and spin operations...which are so formidable they have a heavy, heavy footprint in the West. Virtually "politically" colonizing the West, in Australia, Canada, Panama...and of course, the U.S. media and State Dept.

As Menges says, "Truth is indeed the best defense."

Time for everyone to confront the Chinese abroad and in their land about the evil of their government, its history, its false presentation of Western history, its current lusts and ambitions...its current oppression... and the implicit evils of their Constitution which guarantees their evil.

Time to stand up. And make a difference.

[Little Ray]

I bet the Chinese are trained on American carriers, first. I understand we trained Soviet / Russian carrier pilots, too...

[Paul Ross]

... I learned from Tom Clancy, and I gave up reading him when He dissed my president over the Iraq war.

The center cannot hold. Put not your trust in princes, or any man.

I just heard about this from this morning on Bill Bennet's show. Did you know Billy Graham (showing signs of dementia or something) had never endorsed GWB? That he instead endorsed Al Gore? And now he just had Bill & Hillary right next to his podiuma at his Final Rally, letting Bubba take the microphone...in front of 90,000 so Bubba Xlinton could boast of himself?

Remember the Chinese General who was packing all that cash off to the Xlinton campaign, who matter-of-factly said, "We like your President."

No wonder. Sigh.

Proverbs 26 1. As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.

[DM1]

I respect your opinion and meant my original comment as a generic Taiwan should beef itself up however it would be my belief to be able to send the carrier to hit other targets on the mainland

[Chode]

yes... i agree, you have a valid point in that they could launch first strike or punitive raids on eastern China, though those raids would not be defensive in nature as the targets they hit could not strike Taiwan in the first place and would also be most surly sunk post haste after doing so.
i agree as to the beefing up, but i would much prefer to see them get attack submarines 8^)

[DM1]

nothing wrong with Subs either my friend

[muawiyah]

The problem was still of Chinese making ~ they decided to allow lightly regulated narcotics usage in the 18th Century. The Brits destroyed their society in the 19th Century.

[Wombat101]

A CBG in the vicinity of Taiwan when the PRC began it's amphibious assault would make a GREAT DEAL of difference. However, should it ever come to pass, there wouldn't be one CBG, but a minimum of two (IMO).

As for subs, the best use for SSN's in this scenario would be to blocakde Chinese ports and naval bases, and mine the approaches to them. The naval aspect of this kind of scenario is very limited in scale, actually, and consists merely of keeping the PRC from launching an amphibious assault upon Taiwan, maintaining air supremacy over Taiwan and Japan, and interdicting/disrupting PRC trade. After that, it reverts to politics since there is certain to be no actual ground combat. Neither country could successfully invade or maintain control of the other's homeland.

And this is where the important part comes into play: despite the actual numbers of combatants or ships engaged, the war will be won or lost politically on either countries home front. I feel the Chinese have a lot more to lose here than they would in face-to-face combat. There's your ultimate weapons: 1.3 billion Red Chinese pissed off at their own government.

[Wombat101]

History does repeat itself, so we shall see...

[Chode]

i agree a US CBG is up to the job but NOT one from Taiwan that would take over a decade to build/man/train and launch and that would still be sent to the bottom(since there'd only be one) cause China would have no qualms about sinking them where they would at least think twice before launching a strike on a US-CBG... that's why i said i'd rather see Taiwan get attack boats instead.

[IrishCatholic]

Ding Ding Ding!!! We have a winner!
While everyone was running around about shouting about a dumpy intern-the worst president in US history (and beating Carter was quite a feat)gave missile technology to China that never had a successful ICBN capability. It also got them into the space race with their own manned space program. Then all the Chinese government agents fronting as businessmen ran back to China when it was found that the Dems were owned by the Chinese.
It still drives me nuts they got away with this treason.

[Wombat101]

The initial point of the argument was the threat of the PRC Navay to the UNITED STATES Navy. Taiwan, in this context, is merely the trigger point (or one of them) of this potential conflict.

Taiwan does not require an aircraft carrier. It's already an unsinkable one, and it's only major threat is Mainland China. The Taiwanese Navy, btw, is a professional force with very good ships and motivated people. It would, however, get swamped very quickly by PRC superiority in numbers. This is why the US Navy will be in the neighborhood should the flag go up. We can't allow Taiwan to fall because to do so would be to let down an ally, and having the PRC in a position to disrupt international trade is intolerable, nor will we allow them to stand as a roadblock to the free passage of the USN anywhere in Asia.

[Wombat101]

P.S. I should add that until recently, Taiwan has not required a huge outlay of GDP for procurement of weapons, nor building a carrier. The fact of the mattetr is that China's ability to cross the straits and invade was always impeded by China's lack of sufficent sealift. During this time, it made perfect sense for Taiwan to depend upon the USN for it's strategic defense, while it poured it's limited resources into local defense (i.e. air force, ASW, and a frigate navy).

However, the PRC has gotten much better at building amphibious ships (when it can't buy them from the Russians), and could quite possibly be ready for an invasion very shortly. But the USN will make them think more than twice about it, so I don't believe it's a very likely scenario.

[Chode]

NO...
i was Answering a Question by DM1 who said Taiwan needed to GET carriers... i said no they were for power projection and that they don't need them, and somehow, that led us to here... 8^)