Posted on 02/13/2010 4:29:02 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Downplaying the threat from the China PLA Navy with periodic reports of its move to acquire an aircraft carrier, the former Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral (retd.) Arun Prakash said on Thursday it was not going to happen soon.
“The PLA Navy is some years away from attaining [aircraft] carrier capability,” he said at the conclusion of a two-day seminar at the annual maritime power conference 2010, organised by the National Maritime Foundation.
Referring to China focussing on expansion of its Navy for the last two decades, possibly to address areas of maritime concern including Taiwan and its extended trade and energy sea lanes running across the Indian Ocean, he said the lack of an integral aviation capability is considered by the Chinese leadership to be a major handicap.
In its quest for an aircraft carrier during the last three decades China purchased hulls of three de-commissioned ships which led to periodic reports that a new or refurbished carrier unveiling was imminent.
“However, acquiring or even building a carrier is not China’s real problem; their dilemma is the type of aircraft that is going to be operated from the ship,” he said. In the current scenario China was unlikely to have access to a steam catapult to launch an aircraft from the deck and its option is confined to two Russian aircraft that use short take-off and arrested recovery, he added.
So, either Russia will have to give sufficient numbers of either MiG29 K [which India has procured for its aircraft carrier] or Su-33 fighter to equip its carriers or China design carrier aircraft in a hurry
(Excerpt) Read more at beta.thehindu.com ...
See my post number 20.
Thanks, Jeff! How are you doing with your medical issue?
Yeah, it’s a mock-up so that the ChiComs can train their deck and flight crews on the intricacies of carrier operations, while the big carrier itself is being refurbished at the shipyard.
We'd have had TOTAL air superiority within a week.
Cheers!
ping
I believe this article was just propaganda. Red China could deploy a Carrier and will within a year—if they wanted to. getting the planes in the problem but they will solve it. They will use it for the invasion of Taiwan. The planes may not be able to fly back and land on the carrier but they could screen for any pesky US Carriers. They could be a magnet for US/Nationalist attacks with subs doing the dirty work. Does Obama have the guts for a real hot war? I think not. The invasion of Taiwan will be over in a week. Fifth columns, airports captured and aircraft used to capture the beach heads. Many In Taiwan will greet them with red flags flying. The carrier would serve political as well as military purposes. I bet it will be name the Mao seh tung.
Thanks, VR. We have been blessed with a few weeks at home before the very major surgery in March down at MD Anderson in Houston. Thanks to all, more than I can say, for so much faith and prayers on our behalf.
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
The only requirement for inclusion in the Navair Pinglist is an interest in Naval Aviation.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
Jap jets would have been launched from deep within hidden mountain caves - a target no US bomber could have taken out, even if we had known were the caves were, which we did not until long after the war ended.
The estimate is, as I said, almost all US ships would have been sunk in the opening HOURS of the invasion. The US invasion fleet would have been the largest ever assembled at any time with all available carriers, other ships, and subs. Over 1 million US soldiers would have been killed, not counting naval losses.
We would have prevailed in the end - but with huge loses and certainly no “turkey shoot”, nor air superiority.
That is going to come as quite a shock both to the British and the French.
Built in 1943, and originally the British HMS Venerable, then Dutch Karel Doorman, Veinticinco de Mayo was a 20,000 ton light carrier, with 21 aircraft.
It proved useless to Argentina in the Fauklands War and was scrapped in 1999.
Brazilian aircraft carrier São Paulo (A12)
(with USS Reagan in background -- photo makes Sao Paulo look bigger than it is)
Originally the French Foch (R-99) built in 1959, Sao Paulo is 33,000 tons, carries 39 aircraft, range about 8,000 miles.
Purchased as scrap by Brazil in 2000, it underwent major modernization from 2005 thru 2009.
And -- just as Shermans swarmed Panther and Tiger tanks, just as the small numbers of Messerschmitts and maintenance requirements made them less of a factor -- Japanese jets wouldn't have turned the tide.
Good thing we used the nukes, all the same.
We should have followed up by nuking Moscow.
Cheers!
Shermans were must faster and more maneuverable that either the Panther and Tiger tanks, allowing the swarm tactic to work. In this case, the Jap jets were the faster and more maneuverable. Not to mention their guided missiles and superior machine guns and large ammo loads. The Japs had hindereds of these jet ready to launch - would have been a rough parity in numbers.
But exactly what defense would our ships have had against land-based guided anti-ship missiles?
“Good thing we used the nukes, all the same.”
Yes it is, as the Chinese were very impressed at “the good work” we did when they saw the remains of Hiroshima and Nagasaki... else they were planing to totally exterminate all Japanese.
Nuking Moscow? Well, only if all the Democrat pro-Russia Communists surrounding the Presidency had suddenly died under mysterious circumstances... taking out Mao, however, would have saved 10s of millions of Chinese lives - some 30 million were killed by Mao after the war, bringing his personal total to between 60-75 million murders.
That is going to come as quite a shock both to the British and the French.
I doubt it. The two remaining British Invincible class carriers have a 20,000 ton displacement, carry about a dozed aircraft each, and were originally built for anti-submarine duty. The British conducted a defense review in 2001 and decided to replace their carriers with two new 65,000 ton carriers. The report specifically cites a current lack of ability to project power.
The French aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaul, is 38,00 tons displacement and carries about 40 aircraft. The de Gaul has been a disaster from day one. The flight deck wasn't long enough to accommodate the planes they intended to operate and this wasn't discovered until sea trials (Mon Dieu!). The de Gaul broke a propeller on its way to a port call in Virginia and had to return to France where it was discovered that the other propeller and both spares had the same fault. The company that had made the propellers was bankrupt and the navy had actually lost the designs (Mon Dieu!) so they had to rob propellers from an old decommissioned carrier. Also, due to poor operating procedures, a fire broke out in the reactor space during a reactor test and radioactive smoke was released contaminating parts of the interior of the ship. The French are considering building/buying a third ship of the new British (mon dieu!) Queen Elizabeth class.
(Yes, I'm an old curmudgeon. It's not personal -- it's only FReep.)
Cheers!
There was a documentary on History, Discovery, or NGeo about this some years ago. Remember, that the Japs got the jet and missile tech from their ally Germany, which they developed further than the Germans.
Our prayers are with you, Jeff!
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.