China is also moving ahead with a carrier and may be nearing entry into the world's flat-top club. After years of speculation about what exactly is happening with the incomplete former Soviet carrier the Varyag, the Chinese navy may be only a year or so away from beginning sea trials. The Varyag was an Admiral Kuznetsov-class carrier, but construction was halted in 1992 with the break-up of the Soviet Union. The ship eventually became property of the Ukraine, which later sold it to China, supposedly with the stipulation it would never be made operational as a carrier.
An August 2009 US Department of Defense report on the state of the Chinese navy stated the carrier is expected to become operational between 2010-2012, and will likely be used to develop basic proficiencies in carrier operations. "Speculation is that the new Chinese carrier will carry an air wing of either [Sukhoi] SU-33 or a derivative of [Shenyang] J-11 aircraft," it said. Jane's reported in 2008 that the Chinese carrier will be called the Shi Lang.
Although there's been no official announcement of any kind from the Chinese government, Wertheim said a domestically produced Chinese carrier is likely "sometime after 2015". The Japanese news network Nippon reported in January that development work on one or two 50-60,000-ton new Chinese carriers is underway at a military facility in the city of Wuhan, with future construction planned at a Shanghai shipyard
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario