RandomGuy
09-26-2012, 12:06 PM
(Ukraine was tricked into selling an old, never-finished rusting hulk-Kiev class to the Chinese and they re-furbed it)
IT WAS almost certainly just coincidence. But the ceremony attended by China’s leaders on September 25th in the northern port city of Dalian to mark the entry into service of the country’s first aircraft carrier will have struck many of its jittery neighbours as an ominous sign of intent. With tensions building up with Japan in the past few weeks over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyutai islands in the East China Sea, the addition of a carrier to China’s growing naval fleet will have done nothing to lower the temperature. After all, what are carriers for if not to project power?
In fact, the hoopla surrounding the handing over to the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of the Liaoning probably has rather more to do with creating a patriotic backdrop to the once-in-a-decade Communist Party congress that is now expected to be held next month. Furthermore, the 58,500 tonne vessel, a refurbished Admiral Kuznetsov-class carrier that was initially acquired from Ukraine by a Macau tourist venture in 1998 when only 30% completed, will be limited to a training and development role for the foreseeable future. The Chinese are nothing if not realistic. They know that carrier operations are highly complex and that they are starting from scratch. According to one senior Chinese officer, even with substantial investment it could be 30 years before the PLAN will be able to put a carrier battle group to sea approaching the capability of even one of the 11 carrier groups that America currently deploys.
A fairly small carrier fitted with a “ski jump” ramp rather than a catapult, the Liaoning is no match for America’s Nimitz-class supercarriers, which are almost double the displacement, let alone the new Ford-class ships, the first of which is expected to enter service in 2015. Nor does China yet have any fast jets to fly from the Liaoning. The Shenyang J-15, a not entirely convincing copy of Russia’s Sukhoi S-33, has flown, but is unlikely to enter service until 2016.
As a military threat to America, the Liaoning is therefore negligible and that will remain true even when it is joined over the next 15 years by two indigenously-built carriers that have been modelled on it. What worries America far more are the impressive anti-access/area denial capabilities that China has built up (mainly with missiles and submarines).
Rather than attempt to match US naval strategy and operational doctrine, it is likely that the PLAN is seeking a more limited power-projection capability that will support both the defence of China’s regional interests and its growing interests further afield (investments in natural resources and a fast-expanding diaspora of Chinese workers and technical advisers). Hu Jintao, China’s outgoing president, has also frequently referred to the PLAN’s “new historic missions”, which include being able to respond to non-traditional security challenges such as disaster relief, counter-piracy, military diplomacy and patrolling the sea-lanes that have become so vital to the Chinese economy.
Even so, China’s neighbours are unlikely to respond passively to its carrier programme. They see it as yet another sign of China’s determination to acquire the military trappings of a great power combined with a willingness to flex its muscles when it believes it is in its interests to do so. The military utility of China’s carrier programme is questionable – at least in the context of any future showdown with America. But it says quite a lot about how China sees itself and how it wishes others to see it.
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http://www.economist.com/blogs/clausewitz/2012/09/chinas-aircraft-carrier
IT WAS almost certainly just coincidence. But the ceremony attended by China’s leaders on September 25th in the northern port city of Dalian to mark the entry into service of the country’s first aircraft carrier will have struck many of its jittery neighbours as an ominous sign of intent. With tensions building up with Japan in the past few weeks over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyutai islands in the East China Sea, the addition of a carrier to China’s growing naval fleet will have done nothing to lower the temperature. After all, what are carriers for if not to project power?
In fact, the hoopla surrounding the handing over to the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of the Liaoning probably has rather more to do with creating a patriotic backdrop to the once-in-a-decade Communist Party congress that is now expected to be held next month. Furthermore, the 58,500 tonne vessel, a refurbished Admiral Kuznetsov-class carrier that was initially acquired from Ukraine by a Macau tourist venture in 1998 when only 30% completed, will be limited to a training and development role for the foreseeable future. The Chinese are nothing if not realistic. They know that carrier operations are highly complex and that they are starting from scratch. According to one senior Chinese officer, even with substantial investment it could be 30 years before the PLAN will be able to put a carrier battle group to sea approaching the capability of even one of the 11 carrier groups that America currently deploys.
A fairly small carrier fitted with a “ski jump” ramp rather than a catapult, the Liaoning is no match for America’s Nimitz-class supercarriers, which are almost double the displacement, let alone the new Ford-class ships, the first of which is expected to enter service in 2015. Nor does China yet have any fast jets to fly from the Liaoning. The Shenyang J-15, a not entirely convincing copy of Russia’s Sukhoi S-33, has flown, but is unlikely to enter service until 2016.
As a military threat to America, the Liaoning is therefore negligible and that will remain true even when it is joined over the next 15 years by two indigenously-built carriers that have been modelled on it. What worries America far more are the impressive anti-access/area denial capabilities that China has built up (mainly with missiles and submarines).
Rather than attempt to match US naval strategy and operational doctrine, it is likely that the PLAN is seeking a more limited power-projection capability that will support both the defence of China’s regional interests and its growing interests further afield (investments in natural resources and a fast-expanding diaspora of Chinese workers and technical advisers). Hu Jintao, China’s outgoing president, has also frequently referred to the PLAN’s “new historic missions”, which include being able to respond to non-traditional security challenges such as disaster relief, counter-piracy, military diplomacy and patrolling the sea-lanes that have become so vital to the Chinese economy.
Even so, China’s neighbours are unlikely to respond passively to its carrier programme. They see it as yet another sign of China’s determination to acquire the military trappings of a great power combined with a willingness to flex its muscles when it believes it is in its interests to do so. The military utility of China’s carrier programme is questionable – at least in the context of any future showdown with America. But it says quite a lot about how China sees itself and how it wishes others to see it.
---------------
http://www.economist.com/blogs/clausewitz/2012/09/chinas-aircraft-carrier