Did China REALLY not have an aircraft carrier...

[AJMD429]

...until now...?

I just got a 'newsletter' advertisement (Lignet or something like that) that said China stunned the world recently by landing a J-15 jet on an aircraft carrier, "an event military experts didn't expect them to achieve for another ten years".

[Hobie]

Once upon a time the big concern was China's diesel sub fleet. They were mostly in port. China has come a long way in having a genuine blue water navy.

[Ysabel Kid]

China is only now developing what we call a "blue water" naval capability. Hard to believe given their size, and the size of their military, but fielding that kind of power is a challenge a very limited few countries in the world can do. It is critical to being able to project power - versus a "brown water" or "green water" navy, used in coastal defense and internal waterways.

Most analysts think that the new Chinese aircraft carrier is still years away from being able to be actually fielded - and a carrier group is yet another hurdle. But the Chinese are racing to develop this capability, and you can bet it is not for humanitarian purposes...

[Grizzly Adams]

Straight from the "horse's mouth."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9CDW4tlgOU

Look familiar to some of you "Bird Farm" sailors?

[Blaine]

Wait....BoBo will prolly sell them a couple we can't afford to keep after he slashes the military budget.....

[claybob86]

IIRC, that's an old Russian carrier that they bought and refurbished, which is to be used for training purposes. Gonna build their own based on that one. That plane is a knock-off of a Russian fighter. They have a way to go, but they have a good start on developing an effective power projection capability.

[El Chivo]

Well good for them.

[Ji in Hawaii]

What's surprising is the UK, Russia, and France each currently have just one in service. Spain and Italy both have 2 carriers. I was surprised that India, Brazil, and Thailand each have a carrier. The USA of course has 11 currently in service in comparison.

[jshinal]

A 'naval expert' should hardly have been surprised at the pace they have set in reaching an initial capability. They've had a version of the Su-27 for several years now, and the work on the ship's fitting-out has been well covered in the press.

What is more significant is they have applied test pilots to develop a training doctrine on how to fly approaches to the flight deck, tested that thoroughly, and now given it the final check-off by flight operations on deck. I will be most interested to see if they develop a Landing Signal Officer cadre, or instead try to automate that somehow. LSOs are certainly lifesavers in bad weather ops.

But the quiet story here is a pipeline is now operating for training carrier pilots. The Su-27 is certainly a capable and good handling plane at low speeds, so equipment isn't their problem. How they handle running a flight deck while underway is another matter entirely.

I would NOT want to be a red-shirt on that flight deck.

[.45colt]

I was never in the Military and have no education,but the writeing is on the wall and the clock is ticking. China is in our future like it or not. God Help us All.

[bdhold]

...How they handle running a flight deck while underway is another matter entirely.

I would NOT want to be a red-shirt on that flight deck.

or a yellow-shirt or a green-shirt. Their airdales didn't look very much like airdales

[Larkbill]

Interesting, I wonder how well that launch systems works with a full load of fuel and weapons.

I can't see it handling a range of airframes like back when we packed everything from A-4's to RA-5C's, we don't carry as many now, but still way more than one airframe.

[jeepnik]

Of interesting note, the South Koreans are concerned with development of the Chinese navy. In 2010, they did a pacific rim cruise showing off there newest ship. The first of a class.



They are pretty much aimed at nullifing a sea launch air strike.

[2571]

Wait....BoBo will prolly sell them a couple we can't afford to keep after he slashes the military budget.....

Well better that than the other guy who would have outsourced all American military eqipment production to the chinee.

He already had jeeps scheduled for manufacture there.

[Ji in Hawaii]

Of interesting note, the South Koreans are concerned with development of the Chinese navy. In 2010, they did a pacific rim cruise showing off there newest ship. The first of a class.



They are pretty much aimed at nullifing a sea launch air strike.

I was surprised to find out South Korean has the 4th largest navy on Earth. US #1, China #2, Russia #3

[Ji in Hawaii]

Top Ten Countries with Maximum Submarines

USA 73
China 63
Russia 56
North Korea 26
South Korea 26
India 16
Japan 16
United Kingdom 16
Germany 14
Turkey 13

Why the heck would North Korean need 26 submarines?

[El Chivo]

aren't aircraft carriers obsolete?

I would think a few missiles could wreak havoc with a carrier group. Think of the kamikazes off Okinawa. Fine for supporting ground operations but vulnerable in a real war.

[MrMurphy]

That's why you have antimissile defenses, fighter cover hundreds of miles out, and frigates and cruisers.

The Aegis cruisers are specifically intended for task force defense against missile/aircraft targets.

[2571]

Top Ten Countries with Maximum Submarines

USA 73
China 63
Russia 56
North Korea 26
South Korea 26
India 16
Japan 16
United Kingdom 16
Germany 14
Turkey 13

Why the heck would North Korean need 26 submarines?

So who are the countries outside the top ten? I know the Vatican has two.

[Grizz]

So who are the countries outside the top ten

Colombia, SA

drug subs

[wecsoger]

One trap does not not a carrier aviation group make.

This was all show and tell. Look again at the video and see how clean that deck crew is. No way they could be doing a lot of work and stay that clean.

They're showing off now. It will be more than a couple years before they get their act together enough to have a useful integrated fighting force. Till then, that carrier is a Navy Cross waiting to happen.

[Grizz]

strategic defense against carriers is beyond simple and I'm betting the chicoms are already there.

[BAGTIC]

Top Ten Countries with Maximum Submarines

USA 73
China 63
Russia 56
North Korea 26
South Korea 26
India 16
Japan 16
United Kingdom 16
Germany 14
Turkey 13

Why the heck would North Korean need 26 submarines?

Because they don't have 11 aircraft carriers.

[Leverluver]

The landing that didn't make the news Actualluy pretty impressive that the pilot isn't feeding the fish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OxdZxZ42yU

Straight from the "horse's mouth."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9CDW4tlgOU

Look familiar to some of you "Bird Farm" sailors?