It's a day that has been coming for a number of years as they have refitted the old Varyag. Now she's out to sea.
They have developed an effective strike fighter for her too...a modernized, updated version of the russina SU-33 called the J-15. It will take them years to become effective in carrier operations, particularly air operations...but they are jumping in with both feet with this carrier, and the two more they are already building simultaneously at Shanghai.
it is creating a naval arms raise in the Western Pacific as the Indians, Japanese, Australians, and Korea all scramble to devlop their own carrier type vessels. The Chinese beat the Indians in launching this one as the Indans are refitting another old Russian Carrier and building two of their own.
CHINESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER ON WORLD-WIDE AIRCRAFT CARRIER.COM
THE HISTORY OF THE VARYAG TRANSFORMATION INTO AN OPERATIONAL PLAN CARRIER