In China, government controlled media recently carried comments by a senior admiral in which the construction of a second carrier (as rumored, in a yard near Shanghai) was denied,
but it was confirmed that a second, larger carrier was in the planning
stage. It would make sense that as much experience as possible be gained
from the first carrier (the Liaoning) first before finalizing the design of the second one.
The Liaoning is a 65,000 ton, 305 meter (999 feet) long ship
that spent over a year on sea trials. During that time Liaoning was at
sea for about four months. This was all in preparation for flight
operations that began six months ago and were a success, although the
Chinese built J15 (an Su-27 variant) jet fighter is still being tweaked
as it participates in these carrier operations. Last year China
confirmed that the Liaoning will primarily be a training carrier. The
Chinese apparently plan to station up to 24 jet fighters and 26
helicopters on the Liaoning and use the ship to train pilots and other
specialists for four or more additional carriers that are to be built.
Meanwhile the Liaoning will also be staffed and equipped as a combat
ship as well.
A new Chinese “larger carrier” means something like the
recently decommissioned American USS Enterprise (CVN 65). This was the
first nuclear powered carrier and it served as the prototype for the
subsequent Nimitz class. The Enterprise was an expensive design, and
only one was built (instead of a class of six). While a bit longer than
the later Nimitz class, it was lighter (92,000 tons displacement, versus
100,000 tons). The Enterprise was commissioned in 1961, almost 40 years
after the Langley entered service (1923). In the two decades after the
Langley, the first U.S. carrier, went to sea, there were tremendous
changes in carrier aviation. While the innovation
slowed after World War II, major changes continued into the 1950s (jet
aircraft, nuclear propelled carriers, SAMs). But in the ensuing half
century there has been no major innovation in basic carrier design. This
has not been a problem because the carriers have proven useful, at
least for the U.S. Navy (the only fleet to use such large carriers) and
no one else has maintained a force of these large carriers. Only the
U.S. has a constant need to get air power to any corner of the planet in
a hurry. More importantly, no navy has been able to give battle to the
U.S. carrier force since 1945. The Soviets built new anti-carrier
weapons and made plans to use them but that war never occurred. China is
building carriers but is not committed to having a lot of them against
the U.S. but to intimidate its neighbors.
In any event, many naval planners worry that the next war will
find carriers coming off second best to nuclear submarines and
missiles. As in the past, we'll never know unless there's a war to test
any new theories about how you fight aircraft carriers. Thus it makes
sense for the Chinese to follow the American example and build clones of
American carriers. In the last half century there has been a lot
written about the Enterprise and the Nimitz class ships, along with lots
of photos and videos as well. It would make sense to the Chinese to do
an updated Nimitz for their first class of carriers because so much is
known about them.
Meanwhile, China has built a carrier pilot training program,
along with schools for the many other specialists required to make a
carrier work. It was rather surprising to Westerners that China managed
to get jet aircraft operating from their new aircraft carrier (the
Liaoning) just two months after the ship was commissioned (on September
25th). In large part that was because the Chinese put a lot of effort
into preparation. Training of carrier pilots began nearly a decade
earlier, but perhaps the smartest move the Chinese made was to arrange
for Brazil to have its carrier sailors show the Chinese how it’s done.
This was particularly important in the case of how the deck sailors on a
carrier operate to get aircraft ready for takeoffs and how the air
control specialists in the carrier “island” handle landings. While
Russian carrier expertise was for sale, the Chinese wanted to learn how
Western navies did this, since carrier operations were invented in the
West a century ago. If the next class of Chinese carrier will be based
on Western designs this would be the way to go.
Four years ago Brazil agreed to this deal so that Chinese
sailors could learn carrier operating skills on the Brazilian Navy's
carrier, the "Sao Paulo." It was 13 years ago that Brazil bought the
32,000 ton French aircraft carrier Foch (which was still in service) for
$12 million, updated it, and renamed it "Sao Paolo." The navy has not
been able to get much cash out of the government to further refurbish
the 51 year old Sao Polo, and apparently the Chinese deal will change
that.
The 33,000 ton "Sao Paolo" was headed for decommissioning and
has been used mainly to train carrier pilots when Bazil bought it. The
"Sao Paolo" entered service in 2000, and the Brazilians retired the
20,000 ton "Minas Gerais", a World War II era (British) Colossus Class
carrier, a year later (after 40 years of service). So the Brazilians
have a long tradition of carrier operations and sufficient experienced
carrier sailors to teach the Chinese some useful things. Brazil has long
been the only South American nation to operate a carrier. The Sao Polo
has a crew of 1,900 and was designed to carry 35 warplanes (smaller,
older models like the A-4) and four helicopters. This load can vary
depending on aircraft type.
Six years ago the Chinese Navy Air Force began training
carrier fighter pilots (or "aviators" as they are known in the navy). In
the past Chinese navy fighter pilots went to Chinese Air Force fighter
training schools, and then transferred to navy flight training schools
to learn how to perform their specialized (over open water) missions.
Now, operating from carriers and performing landings and take-offs at
sea has been added to the navy fighter pilot curriculum. The first class
of carrier aviators has finished a four year training course at the
Dalian Naval Academy. This included learning how to operate off a
carrier, using a carrier deck mock-up on land. Landing on a moving ship
at sea is another matter. The Russians warned China that it may take
them a decade or more to develop the knowledge and skills needed to
efficiently run an aircraft carrier. The Chinese are game and are
slogging forward. The first landing and takeoff was apparently carried
out in calm seas. It is a lot more difficult in rough weather (when the
carrier is moving up and down and sideways a lot) and at night. The
latter, called “night traps”, is considered the most difficult task any
aviator can carry out, especially in rough weather
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