Free Republic

First Six Chinese Fixed-wing Naval Aviation Pilots Qualified (Click on any image on this page for a larger version of the image) The first six operational pilots have been qualified in take-offs and landings aboard the PLAN Aircaft Carrier Liaoning, CV-16, for the Chinese Navy. Short History: The Liaoning is a Short Take-off, Barrier Assisted Recovery (STOBAR) carrier that the Chinese purchased from the Ukraine in the early 2000s when it was only partially complete. She was the sister ship of the Russian Kuznetsov aircraft carrier and was to be the 2nd in that class when the Soviet Union fell....

On Friday, May 25th, 2007, the Republic of South Korea reached a major milestone in its military and defense progress. The first Korean Destroyer Experimental III vessel (KDX-3) was launched on that date. The new vessel, named the Sejong the Great, DDG 991, is a full AEGIS capable vessel employing the same AN/SPY-1D system as the US Navy Areligh Burke class destroyers, and also utilizing the same AN/SQQ-89 submarine warfare suite. But the vessels are also much more heavily armed than their American counterparts, with an 80 cell VLS grouping forward dedicated to SM-2 missiles, and a 48 cell VLS...