Navy has a single carrier, the Russian-built Liaoning, and says another larger vessel is under construction
The
report comes after Chinese officials denied foreign media reports in
September 2012 that China was building a second carrier in Shanghai.
"China
will have more than one aircraft carrier ... The next aircraft carrier
we need will be larger and carry more fighters," Xinhua quoted Song Xue,
deputy chief of staff of the PLA Navy, as saying at a ceremony with
foreign military attaches.
Song said foreign media reports saying
the carrier was being built in Shanghai were inaccurate but did not
elaborate, according to the report.
China currently has one
aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which it bought from the Russians and
refitted. Considered by military experts to be decades behind US carrier
technology, it was officially said to have been bought to serve as a
floating casino but was turned to military use.
China is also building up other forms of military hardware, including a stealth fighter jet believed to be capable of landing on a carrier, drone aircraft and nuclear submarines.
China is also building up other forms of military hardware, including a stealth fighter jet believed to be capable of landing on a carrier, drone aircraft and nuclear submarines.
China is alone among the
original nuclear weapons states to be expanding its nuclear forces,
according to a report by the US-China Economic and Security Review
Commission.
Song said the PLA Navy was building a naval aviation
force for the Liaoning and there would be at least two aviation
regiments on one carrier, including fighters, reconnaissance aircraft,
anti-submarine aircraft, electronic countermeasure (ECM) planes and
rotary-wing aircraft, the report said.
Chinese officials have said the Liaoning will be used primarily for training purposes.
Chinese officials have said the Liaoning will be used primarily for training purposes.
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