Posted on 03/19/2012 9:35:06 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
China Carrier Preps for Flight Ops?
Photos posted to the Internet in China last week seem to confirm that the Chinese Navy has installed arrestor gear and other vital equipment on its refurbished Soviet-made aircraft carrier, the ex-Varyag. If genuine, the installations could represent a big step forward for the first-ever seaborne, fixed-wing aviation capability for the People's Liberation Army Navy.
One image appears to show a traditional four-wire arrangement on the aft flight deck of the roughly 1,000-foot-long carrier. Another depicts a small tractor of the type used to move aircraft around the deck.
The ex-Varyag, which was speculated to have been renamed the Shi Lang in Chinese service, underwent more than a decade of rework in Dalian shipyard following her acquisition from Russia in the late 1990s. She conducted her first sea trial in July and performed a second, brief, at-sea test in November. These tests didn't include fixed-wing aircraft. Indeed, much of the equipment necessary to support airplanes apparently had apparently not been installed.
In December, a Chinese government spokesman denied rumors that Russia had refused to sell China arresting gear. The ex-Varyag's deck equipment was being developed indigenously, the spokesman said.
The wires and the tractor should allow the ex-Varyag to begin flight trials with navalized J-15 fighters as early as this spring – assuming, of course, that other requisite gear has also been installed, including air-traffic-control radars, communications, aircraft fueling and repair facilities.
Even with all that equipment in place, it could take years for China to train aviators and deck crew to safely and efficiently launch, recover and maintain carrier-based aircraft. Coo
(Excerpt) Read more at the-diplomat.com ...
Whatever.....
...Which deck has the Slot Machines?
The arrestor wires would've gone completely unnoticed if the crew hadn't started hanging their laundry from it.
This is interesting,, but there is a brutal learning curve and an experience level that will be nearly impossible for them to duplicate (or even come close) to the USN Carrier effectiveness.
To put it in perspective, the USA has fielded about 70 large carriers, and about 250 CVL, and CVE light carriers for about 80 years. They fought the Carriers in WWII, Korea and Vietnam with almost unbelievable operational tempo,, in conditions too varied to list in the Cold war. In Desert Storm, 6 carriers gereated about 35% of the sorties. And they have been in almost nonstop war for the last decade.
I -almost- wish the Chinese well, while shaking my head at the tragic accidents almost certainly headed their way.
Maybe they will find use for it in anti-pirate patrol,,etc. But it would nearly be like infanticide for them to confront the US carriers or SSNs with it.
[ it could take years for China to train aviators and deck crew to safely and efficiently launch, recover and maintain carrier-based aircraft. ]
China collective could care less about safety..or the health of their seamen..
China is a communist givernment.. a collective, a HIVE...
They have lots of drones to man the carrier..
The author is confusing China with a western country..
The Chinese givernment OWNS the carrier AND the people that will man it..
So a few of them get chopped in half; SO WHAT?..
To China, carriers, air planes and people are all machines.. Expendable..
In the Chinese military, one training fatality results in another soldier being ordered to take the place of the deceased.
There is a reason the US is the only nation to possess those 100,000 ton nuclear carriers.
DITTO! China’s main tool to confront the US is not military. Look up www.globalfirepower.com. China is a distant third in military power compared to US however her financial power is another story. Her foreign reserves plus assets is about 2600 trillion dollars while the US can muster only 150 trillion. Guess what China will use to cut us down, money!!!! If one understands China’s military strategy, it is simply they will take their time. Look at the pace compared to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. China is making improvements but taking her time to do it. Without firing a shot the US growing debt and deficit will shrink the US carrier forces because we simply can no longer afford so many. China will slowly learn and grow their carrier forces because she is not involved in any major war which consumes money and resources. Without firing a shot the US fleet is shrinking, while China slowly builds up hers.
And we financedthat carrier through China.
"Hi, my name is stupid. The shooter's name is stupid2, and the person behind me is stupidtoo, to."
5.56mm
Sheesh.
5.56mm
Even when they do figure out how to conduct flight operations they will still be very limited. A deck that small doesn’t allow for a very high sortie rate. You can either perform self protection or a very small strike.
Well, that’s another story.
Ding Ding Ding, we have a winner!
We've been flying from ships for a hundred years, you can't gain that experience in a year or 2.
Looks like one of the older British carriers, only bigger. Nothing state of the art here.
“In the Chinese military, one training fatality results in another soldier being ordered to take the place of the deceased.”
Yes,,, but on carriers, accidents can mean a guy cut in half by a prop, but also can mean a destroyed jet engine, or 15 planes in flames on the flight deck. Communsit drone theory won’t allow success on carriers.
They'll just replace the planes with new ones. Same thing with the flight deck if needed. Why shouldn't they? We're paying for them.
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