I'll see China's "super aircraft carrier" and raise them an American helicarrier.
Posted on 12/22/2013 1:21:17 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
China has declared it is building a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
The size of the carrier will be huge enough to rival the biggest in United States naval service in the first move of a major new arms race.
According to China Daily, Chinese website qianzhan.com said 'top People's Liberation Army' sources as saying the 110,000-ton aircraft carrier should be launched by 2020.
The news follows rising tensions in the South and East China Seas.
The design of the carrier is reportedly based on drawings from the former Soviet Union of a nuclear-powered, 80,000 ton vessel capable of carrying 60 aircraft, the report added.
This is to keep tight rein on the South China Sea, and intimidate the Philippines and Japan, as well as threaten the Malaysian Strait. If China ever develops air and naval superiority in this region sufficient to suppress or drive out US presence there, the worldwide reach of the US will diminish in direct response to the growth of the Chinese capability.
The Chinese have a long ways to go, to be sure, but given the nature of the timidity and the reticence of the Current Regime now in control of that territory once known as “the United States of America”, this could happen with amazing rapidity. Heck, the Current Regime might even be persuaded to sell the Chinese a couple of our older carriers.
But I should not be putting ideas in their heads.
“If China ever develops air and naval superiority in this region sufficient to suppress or drive out US presence there, the worldwide reach of the US will diminish in direct response to the growth of the Chinese capability.”
The carrier pretty much put an end to battleships
in the second world war, just as something else
will put an end to carriers.
Power projection keeps developing just like everything
else, when you can destroy it from orbit.
I'll see China's "super aircraft carrier" and raise them an American helicarrier.
If China was developing its own technology, you’d be right. However, pretty much all of the military technology China has has been stolen, mostly from the US, so not necessarily.
The japanese did, and plenty of people Wew dismissing them too.
i thought they were in the 40,000 ton range.
Kinda reminds me of the Nuclear powered flying
aircraft carriers you would see in Popular Mechanics
in the 50s.
Total nonsense.
I know exactly what the Chinese military, and particularly their Navy, is doing. I have been monitoring it very closely for the last 12-14 years.
The PLAN is not building a nuclear carrier at this point. The article is rife with misstatements, reference to internet legends, and absolutely not one shred of authenticity.
It is very possible that the PLAN will start building two conventional carriers of 65,000 tons each (which are not small by any stretch) like the Liaoning, CV-16, they currently have, so that they can have similar training, operations and logistics for all three of their fleets. SCS, ECS, and NCS.
After that, perhaps sometime in the early to mid 2020s they may begin producing a CATOBAR carriers (probably conventional for the first one or two)...but they have not perfected either the nuclear propulsion adequate for a carrier, or the catapult technology for them yet, and they will accomplish those before they ever go there.
The Rising Sea Dragon in Asia
http://www.jeffhead.com/redseadragon/
I recognize your depth of knowledge, and I am not questioning you in the least.
I however think China will tend to surprize us with the speed they adapt and develop technology.
Remember please, this technology is already being used in a number of American carriers.
I’m thinking the Chinese are further along with their efforts to develop such things, than we currently believe.
I do not have specific knowledge of this. I am not reporting it, or even suggesting is is so.
I just think we would be unwise to presume China is “lagging” in developing advanced technology.
I think they are further along in a number of areas, than they have let on so far.
I’m just saying America needs to start taking China very seriously.
Unlike every other nation we have ever opposed, China has a population five times America’s size, many of whom are college educated and very ambitious. And are all sorts of nationalistic.
I just think we are very unwise to believe we have some sort of inside track.
At the moment, China is rapidly gaining on us.
Thanks for your post. I really appreciate it.
Probably built from technology stolen from the US or sold to them by the Clinton administration.
This is a very expensive sandbox for China to play in.
I am very well aware, in significant detail, of the new A1B rectors we are putting on the new Ford class carriers, and how they compare to the A4W reactors we have on the Nimitz class, and how those compared to the A2W reactors we had on the USS Enterprise that was decommissioned last year.
You may be thinking that the Chinese PLAN is further along...but in this area, they are not.
Their naval nuclear reactors that they use on their submarines are continually having issues. The keep building one or two boats of a class and then having to build another class because of the issues they have been having with the reactors and with quieting
They are not ready in the least for a 110,000 ton nuclear powered aircraft carrier, or one of even 70-80,000 tons.
However, what they are doing with the Liaoning class carriers (which are improved variants of the Kuznetsov class on which they are based) are significant enough.
If they produce and deploy three of those sized carriers, they will represent a significant change in the balance of power to the Western Pacific.
The Chinese have already surpassed the Japanese Navy as the second largest and most powerful navy on the planet. The J-15 strike fighters they will deploy on these carriers, once they are trained in their usage and carrier operations, are going to be a serious competitor to our F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
Building two carriers at once, as they plan, will be a very significant and serious message to all nations in the Western Pacific.
They have built four of their new Type 52D class destroyers which are nearing the capabilities of our AEGIS destroyers, and are in serial production...capable of up to three a year.
They have built 12 of their new Type 53 light frigates in the last two years, and are probably going to continue to build 6-8 of those a year for the foreseeable future. They have a similar role to our LCS, but are much more heavily armed.
They have built 20 of their larger Type 054A frigates in the last five to six years (averaging almost four of those a year). We have been steadily decommissioning our Perry class frigates and not replacing them at all.
So, yes, the Chinese can and are doing many things at once. But building a nuclear carrier in the near future, is not one of them. I expect ultimately they will...but it is another ten years off.
Our saving grace in this is the fact that we have been building very capable Burke class AEGIS destroyers at a rate of about two a year for the last 20 years.
Also, our Virginia class nuclear subs, which are in series production and outclass and nuclear sub the PLAN has now, or will have in the next 8-10 years.
But they do have very, very good AIP SSK conventional subs, so the littoral waters in the western Pacific will be very dangerous places. This while they build up a very strong surface Navy and beginning to develop their Naval Air Arm in a serious manner.
I’m not concerned. It’s made in China.
They do when Bill Xlinton sells it to them. Unfortunately.
They are building up and we are down-sizing. We should not cut military spending right now.
Well the thing I keep thinking of is, China is now the largest exporter on the planet.
Not us. China.
China is growing in every regard. Including making a massive amount of what is sold, right here in America.
All I’m saying is a lot of people need to take China very seriously. Now. This is no longer some game. China is getting stronger every day.
Thanks for your posts. Wish you a very Merry Christmas.
I agree...and have been saying it and documenting in terms of their naval buildup for years.
“And what far-flung overseas commitments does China have to warrant such a behemoth?”
Huge investments in Africa, growing influence in South America, and control of the sea lanes for Indonesian oil.
They aren’t building this to fight us, but to influence things in 2nd/3rd world nations.
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