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Red China's first aircraft carrier unveiled
AFPC China Reform Monitor ^ | 4/25/2011 | Joshua Eisenman, ed.

Posted on 04/25/2011 3:51:06 PM PDT by bruinbirdman

After more than a decade of renovation, China's first aircraft carrier – a remodeled 67,500-ton Admiral Kuznetsov-class Soviet carrier bought at auction in 1998 – is preparing to set to sail. The official Xinhua News Agency posted 20 high-resolution pictures with accompanying captions that suggest the carrier will undergo sea tests this year. One said: “Huge warship on the verge of setting out, fulfilling China’s 70-year aircraft carrier dreams.” Another said: “From the pictures we can see that this project is entering its final stage.” Yet, another noted that with the exception of its radar system, construction on the ship’s bridge was almost done. The Chinese have not released details of the carrier’s capabilities.



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: armsbuildup; china; chinesemilitary; navair; redchina
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To: wastedyears
Isn’t a curved deck a design from early WWII carriers?

To my knowledge, for US and Japanese carriers, no. In WWII the piston powered aircraft were able to launch without catapults or a ramp. The Brits have used a "ski jump" ramp in the last couple decades for their harriers facilitating launch without need for a catapult. The Russians have done the same, with a more severe angle than the Brits. The ski jump does increase the angle of attack for the wings and provides an upward trajectory for the aircraft instead of just dropping off the end.

21 posted on 04/25/2011 5:13:39 PM PDT by cidrasm
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To: Talisker
Plus this:


22 posted on 04/25/2011 5:22:41 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: FreedomPoster
Plus this:


23 posted on 04/25/2011 5:24:47 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Rudder

If current trends continue for the next eight years we will be selling the Chinese our best equipment, for they will own us


24 posted on 04/25/2011 5:33:53 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (The best is the enemy of the good!)
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To: wastedyears

Not ours. European and Soviet.


25 posted on 04/25/2011 5:42:08 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: bruinbirdman; Jeff Head
There's no big surprise here. Jeff Head has been covering this story for six years now.

VARYAG TRANSFORMATION INTO AN OPERATIONAL PLAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER

For those who sneer at the ChiComs, this carrier's mission is NOT to go head-to head with the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet, but to project power against Taiwan, Japan, India, Southeast Asia, and perhaps the Horn of Africa.

Instead, they know precisely how to deal with our carriers...

The uninvited guest: Chinese sub pops up in middle of U.S. Navy exercise, leaving military chiefs red-faced

26 posted on 04/25/2011 5:45:42 PM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: wastedyears
Russian carrier ops:

Russian Aircraft Carrier Admiral Kuznetsov

27 posted on 04/25/2011 5:55:38 PM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: ransomnote

LOL. They were just getting you prepped for fishing on the Bearing Sea.

And if it was VERY WINDY during your flight, it might have been one of these aircraft.


28 posted on 04/25/2011 6:31:55 PM PDT by Dick Bachert (2012 CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH FOR ME. HOW ABOUT YOU?)
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To: bruinbirdman

Submarine meat.


29 posted on 04/25/2011 6:33:21 PM PDT by bmwcyle (It is Satan's fault)
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To: ransomnote

Look, people, there is nothing magic about this. They are smart, determined people and will work out the problems. Look at all of the trouble we’ve had with the new Austin class LPD’s. Our Naval program is a mess and we had better get our act together before it’s too late.

Remember in the first years of WWII, the USN was outclassed by the IJN in all areas except Radar. The attitude here reminds me of the attitude of smug superiority we had vis a vis the Japanese in 1938.

The curved deck is the Russian design. No catapults, I believe.


30 posted on 04/25/2011 9:19:10 PM PDT by reentry
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To: Rudder
"China has no experience with building carriers."

They can't even lay a keel for a cruiser class. They bought this hull from the Rooskies.

Rooskies couldn't convert a cruiser to a carrier for the Indians.

yitbos

31 posted on 04/25/2011 9:22:49 PM PDT by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." -- Ayn Rand)
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To: reentry
"They are smart, determined people and will work out the problems."

Look what's sitting in an inland waterway just west of Shanghai:

yitbos

32 posted on 04/25/2011 9:33:40 PM PDT by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." -- Ayn Rand)
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To: reentry

I don’t doubt that the Chicoms are smart, determined people who will work out the problems. (You forgot to mention ‘hard working’)
I have my doubts on anything Russian made and I come by it honestly. When one of our famous test pilots finally got to fly a mig - he almost crashed because you really could put it into a dive but he had a heck of a time manuevering or pulling out of it - ever. I worked on Soviet fishing vessels in the 80’s that were built in the 50’s. I read about the truck factory workers who were paid by the pound to build trucks - so they built them so massive they begin to fall through the ice in remote locations. I studied up on some of the ‘antics’ of the Soviet space program. I listened with open mouthed shock to their nuclear program as described by my Russian emigres dinner guest. The Chicoms have their work cut out for them - building something on top of a Russian base. But as another poster pointed out - it’s to intimidate Taiwan et. al. ,not the US Navy.


33 posted on 04/25/2011 9:41:15 PM PDT by ransomnote
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To: Virginia Ridgerunner
Thanks for the link which sure took a load off my mind What aircraft could handle 10 of those landings? The SU 25 is one hell of a rugged plane, but it sure wasn't designed for the Russki idea of a carrier landing, which is apparently a sort of bounce and crash, bounce, maybe hook up, bounce bounce and then collapse the gear kind of thing.

Also, I don't believe I am revealing classified info here, but shouldn't the fire extinguisher be somewhere on deck, or at least near the companionway?

Just WTF? Over.

34 posted on 04/25/2011 10:10:37 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Qadafi and Obama share a common advantage. No organized opposition.)
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To: Focault's Pendulum
The Harrier vertical take-off is a cool trick, but one to be avoided if there is not to be an immediate aerial refueling operation.

The ski-jump allows the Harriers to take off while rolling forward like a normal aircraft, with just a bit of vectored thrust. Saves tons of fuel.

Ridgerunner's link is also weird in that the crew looked like mostly Russki AF types, not sailors. Why would sailors wear camo? Also, it took dozens of them to muscle the SU 25 into position and it looked like a normal AF version with a tailhook added. When the gear collapsed, that kind of confirmed it.

Practice, comrades, practice

35 posted on 04/25/2011 10:25:15 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Qadafi and Obama share a common advantage. No organized opposition.)
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To: bruinbirdman
That's the Military Education Center at the Orient Green Boat After-School Camp for Youngsters.

"This one time in Battle Carrier Camp..."

36 posted on 04/26/2011 3:03:46 AM PDT by Oztrich Boy (The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.- H. L. Mencken)
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To: bruinbirdman
Are you sure that's a carrier in that foto?

Looks more like a sleek Italian cruise ship.

37 posted on 04/26/2011 6:20:06 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Qadafi and Obama share a common advantage. No organized opposition.)
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To: bruinbirdman

A boat is just a hole in the water into which you throw money.

The PLAN now has the biggest possible hole in the water into which to throw money, a CV.

Fortunately, they have a lot of money (much of it formerly ours...) to throw into the hole...


38 posted on 04/26/2011 6:23:37 AM PDT by Little Ray (The Gods of the Copybook Heading, with terror and slaughter return!)
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To: bruinbirdman
Look what's sitting in an inland waterway just west of Shanghai:

The ChiComs are obsessed with having a carrier. Yes, they have a practical need for one (Taiwan, India, etc) but they also see having one (or two, or three) as a matter of national prestige.

Varyag will give them a limited ability to project power better than they can right now. But it needs to be looked at more as their USS Langley (CV-1) rather than something the'll send out to do battle.

Of course, a Varyag/Su-33s vs. Gorshkov/MiG-29Ks throw-down in the Indian Ocean would be fascinating to watch. As a spectator.
39 posted on 04/26/2011 7:03:46 AM PDT by tanknetter
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To: Oztrich Boy
"That's the Military Education Center at the Orient Green Boat After-School Camp for Youngsters. "

It is, indeed, made out of concrete.

ChiComs cannot even manufacture the CPUs necessary for advanced militay electronics.

yitbos

40 posted on 04/26/2011 1:19:43 PM PDT by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." -- Ayn Rand)
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