Communist China will Try to Copy Giant Soviet Aircraft Carrier in Attempt to Expand its Naval Power

The London Times | March 5, 2002 | Oliver August

[rightwing2]

London Times
March 5, 2002
China Pays £17m For Giant Soviet Carrier
By Oliver August in Beijing

CHINA has taken delivery of a Ukrainian aircraft carrier and will try to copy the decommissioned vessel in an attempt to expand its naval power. A Chinese shipyard confirmed yesterday the arrival of the carrier in the northern port city of Dalian, where military experts are expected to use the vessel as a template for China’s own carrier design. The 1,000ft Varyag is the largest of at least three former Soviet carriers acquired by China. All the vessels were bought by private companies, allegedly with links to the military, which invited naval architects from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to inspect them.

A Western diplomat in Beijing said: "They already have a design on their computers ready for the day when they decide to build their own carrier. They will extract the best parts of the Varyag’s design and add them to their own." The Varyag, built a decade ago, was towed from the Black Sea around the Cape to the Yellow Sea. The Soviet Navy never finished building the vessel owing to a lack of funds after the end of the Cold War. The hull is not fitted with any electronic or hydraulic equipment. It was supposed to be turned into a casino in Macau, according to the official Chinese buyer, a company called Chong Lot that has no known links to the gaming sector but has been linked to the military. When Macau awarded new casino licences last month, Chong Lot was not among successful bidders.

Analysts believe that instead the PLA could use the Varyag as a training platform for carrier take-offs and landings. The purchase and towing of the carrier has cost about £17.5 million, probably making it too expensive for use as an entertainment facility. China paid the Ukrainian Government £14 million for the hull and the Turkish Government at least £210,000 as a transit fee. The towing is said to have cost between £2 million and £3.5 million. China’s other two decommissioned ex-Soviet carriers have been turned into floating amusement parks moored in the coastal cities of Shenzhen and Tianjin. Under pressure from Washington, the carriers were stripped of their most sensitive technology before Beijing was able to buy them.

Robert Karniol, the Asia editor of Jane’s Defence Weekly, said: "The Chinese haven’t seen this type of carrier before and it could be very useful to them. They are trying to vacuum up as much knowhow as they can." Beijing has long harboured plans to build aircraft carriers to catch up with the United States in terms of power projection. Liu Huaqing, a recently retired senior general who fought with Chairman Mao in the 1930s, has spoken of the 21st century as the "century of the sea" and called for rapid naval modernisation. In response, the US Navy has said that Chinese plans could upset the regional balance of power. Independent experts say, however, that the launch of a Chinese carrier is still many years away. China’s shipyards are believed to be able to build carrier hulls, but not the catapults to launch and recover aircraft. However, former Soviet naval architects may be available to help.

[John H K]

I'd say it looks like were at about 1934-1935 right now?

I'd put the gap in the military capability of the US and the PRC as about 100 times the size of the gap between Nazi Germany and Great Britain in 1934-35.

[Rebelbase]

It ought to please the enviornmentalists when we eventually turn these proposed carriers into man made reefs.

[Rebelbase]

I was suggesting Japan's build-up of war material back in 34-35, but maybe the late 20's would be a better analogy.

You are correct, we are far advanced technologically. Yet, I think the Chicoms will advance rapidly at a greater pace based on the U.S. government approved technolgoy exchange that was arranged during the x42 years.

Reverse engineering has a tendency to speed up progress that normally would have taken much longer if traditional development were used.

War with China is inevitable. Better to beat a mad dog when its a puppy than to wait until it becomes a wolf.

[John H K]

It ought to please the enviornmentalists when we eventually turn these proposed carriers into man made reefs.

Actually, a lot of the more whacky environmentalists HATE man-made reefs. I'm a saltwater fisherman (DE, MD mostly) and the envirowhackos fought tooth-and-nail against a plan to dump hundreds of old NYC subway cars to form artificial reefs off NJ...and they won (Delaware ended up taking them.) Touted a bunch of crap about the "asbestos" in the cars (like asbestos underwater does anything to anybody, or anything.)

[Charles Martel]

Actually, a lot of the more whacky environmentalists HATE man-made reefs. I'm a saltwater fisherman (DE, MD mostly) and the envirowhackos fought tooth-and-nail against a plan to dump hundreds of old NYC subway cars to form artificial reefs off NJ...and they won (Delaware ended up taking them.) Touted a bunch of crap about the "asbestos" in the cars (like asbestos underwater does anything to anybody, or anything.)

They whine about the oil that continues to seep from the USS Arizona, too.

[Rebelbase]

Well, I guess the fish might breathe the asbestos...not!

[John H K]

It's my conviction that the PRC collapses in civil war, during the next 15-25 years it will need to even begin to rival the US militarily, long before the PRC military is respectable.

[Rebelbase]

Chinese civil war, interesting......Maybe Pepsi, KFC, Sony and Michael Jordan have done more to bring about a global awareness in China than we give them credit for......Get the masses hooked on pop culture, then threaten to pull the plug, watch the masses revolt.

I often thought that should be our policy in Cuba. Flood the place with western goods, letting the people see and taste that which they are deprived.

[joanie-f]

Thanks for the ping, Chris. We all knew that 'Breath of Fire' was prophetic. Sadly, we may not have known quite the extent of its fiction-turned-fact accuracy. Only time will tell.

(Proud to be collaborating with you on #2 :)

[Poohbah]

By 2015, China will be engaged in a new round of warlordism and barbarism, and they won't care about contesting power in the western Pacific--they will be far too busy trying to contest power in the streets of Beijing and Shanghai...

[Seydlitz]

Two questions, if I may be so bold:

(1) How did US trade policies towards China cause China to buy a Ukrainian aircraft carrier?

(2)You say that the politicians let China build its military. Are you advocating pre-emptive military strikes on the PRC?

[RichInOC]

I thought they had enough access to us that they could copy the good stuff, and they're going to crib off the Red Fleet instead? Dumbasses.

[Paul Ross]

Ya, ya. Warlordism, my eye. Same sort of wishful thinking was projected about the Nazi's. Didn't happen. And won't with nukes at their beck and call.

Further, we are looking at a cohesive IDEOLOGICALLY united heirarchy running multiple disinformation campaigns while racing in a military build-up of staggering proportions. And you continue to misunderstand the inherent dynamic weakness for deterrence, not to mention war-winning, for that matter, of the continuing erosion of the US Fleet capability, while the PRC is on the way to becoming a first-rank Navy.

[Thud]

You have an EVIL mind.

"The U.S. should convince France to offer the ChiComms help in buiding aircraft carriers.

[Rebelbase]

And...China will build 6 carriers a year while supplying every Cosco,WalMart and KMart with goods that we buy, which in turn profits the Chicom economy so that they can afford to build 6 carriers a year.

We are financing the future deaths of our own servicemen.

[Rebelbase]

Thankya, thankya very much...