The hull of the second Chinese aircraft carrier has been completely assembled. Work to install on-board equipment has already begun. This is what the Chinese Ministry of Defense has announced. No further information has been issued. The second Chinese carrier Type 001A, considering the progress, could be launched before the end of the year and carry out its first patrol within the 2018, contradicting the Pentagon's estimate, previously fixed to the 2020 / 22.
We know that the Chinese continue to test catapults on the mock-up of the aircraft carrier in Wuhan, Hubei Province. On the platform, already used in the past to test experimental technologies, the ski-jump has been removed. The Type 001A, Beijing's second aircraft carrier, is based on the Liaoning design, although with some improvements and will be characterized by a STOBAR or Short Takeoff But Arrested Recovery system. Although effective, the STOBAR launch is not comparable to the CATOBAR or Catapult Assisted Take Off But Arrested Recovery, a catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery on US Nimitz. The main difference is that a CATOBAR carrier is able to launch aircraft with more fuel and payload. To reach a level of global operations comparable to that of the US Navy, China will need decades of experience.
The first tests on catapults were detected in the 2015 at the Huangdicun Airbase. In the structure, the Chinese tested the Shenyang J-15 platforms on both steam and electromagnetic catapults. It is not yet clear, thanks to modular technology, what the Chinese are testing on the Wuhan mock-up. The second Chinese aircraft carrier Tipo 001A will carry out the military operations typical of a carrier of its category.
Liaoning, the first aircraft carrier in the country, was designed to test the reliability and compatibility of indigenous systems and staff training. The second carrier will in effect be a battle platform that will contribute to the defense of national interests. It will have a displacement of 50.000 tons (ten thousand less than the Liaoning) and a conventional feeding system. It will be equipped mainly with Shenyang J-15 fighters (based largely on the Sukhoi Su-33) and the same STOBAR bridge of the Admiral Kuznetsov class. The main systems (propulsion, electronics and armament) will be implemented in China.
The Chinese are also building a third aircraft carrier in the Shanghai area, probably nuclear-powered. The third carrier has not yet been formalized by Beijing, although satellite photos have confirmed the start of the works. Nuclear propulsion effectively eliminates the need for refueling and extends the range of the carrier, limited only by the on-board supplies for the embarked personnel. The last satellite transmissions would confirm the work started at the Jiangnan Changxingdao shipyards.
The Liaoning
The only Chinese aircraft carrier, Liaoning, entered service in the 2012. It is the second carrier of the Admiral Kuznetsov class that dates back to the Soviet era. China bought the aircraft carrier from 60.000 tons from Ukraine in the 1998. It has been totally revised and modernized even though it is not yet considered fully operational (target within the 2020). The autonomy of Liaoning is estimated in 45 days of navigation, equal to seven thousand kilometers at the maximum speed allowed, around 32 knots.
(Photo: Xinhua News Agency)
