[freedumb2003]

IIRC, this is an old WWII POS they spent 5 years retrofitting.

If we are worried about chine, we at least have a few years to not worry about the sea, since China can’t use all it’s resources to build an Aircraft carrier from scratch.

And anyone in the world can see that sloping take-off ramp is dumber than dirt.

I won’t stop worrying completely, but it is a little comforting to see China isn’t the powerhouse we imagine it to be.

[sukhoi-30mki]

The ski-ramp is the only meaningful alternative to not having a catapult; you would need a carrier with nuclear power to have catapults capable of launching fighters like the SU-33. And for what it’s worth, the Varyag still has plenty of hull-life left in it.

[steel_resolve]

I still say hit it with about 10 cruise missiles.

[Jeff Head]

Actually it is not an old WW II vessel at all. It was the second of the Russian Carriers, newer than the Kuznetsov the Russians use.

RUSSIAN KUZNETZOV CARRIER

It is a pretty strong design...though not nearly up to our carriers.

The point is, the Chinese have been embarked for the last ten years in a massive naval buildup while we have been buisly downsizing.

It will take them years to get up to snuff on carrier ops, but they are jumoping in, putting this carrier out (and it will be an effective platform and a dangerous one if we do nmot take it seriously with its escorts and air wing), and are building two more simultabneously at Shanghai.

Their close in defense is impressive with four 18-round anti-missile launchers that are very similar to our RAM launchers, four, ten-barrell, 30mm CIWS, four multiple anti-torpedo missile launchers, etc.

No today or tomorrow, but if we continue to sit on our laurels, they could pose a significant threat in the next 10 years.