The second Chinese aircraft carrier will carry out the military operations typical of a carrier of its category. There Liaoning (photo), the country's first aircraft carrier, was designed to test the reliability and compatibility of indigenous systems and staff training. It is a sort of technological demonstrator. Chinese media continue to issue details on Beijing's second aircraft carrier, being built in the coastal city of Dalian, in Liaoning province.
The second carrier will in effect be a battle platform "which 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 fighters Shenyang J-15 (based largely on Sukhoi Su-33) and will have the same STOBAR bridge (Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery) of the class Admiral Kuznetsov. 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: it could be equipped with nuclear propulsion. The third carrier has not yet been formalized by Beijing, although satellite photos have confirmed the start of the works (the second carrier was recognized only exactly one year after the construction site was opened).
Although it does not officially exist, the third carrier is beginning to discuss. It is the Chinese analysts themselves, on the country's press agencies, who justify the need for a third aircraft carrier to guarantee long-range armed patrols and for humanitarian missions. We know that from the 2013, the China Shipbuilding Industry have started studies for nuclear propulsion on vectors. A technology used since the 70 years by the Chinese on class submarines He. 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 only Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, entered service in the 2012. It is the second vector of the class Admiral Kuznetsov which dates back to the Soviet era. China bought the 60.000-ton aircraft carrier from Ukraine in 1998. It has been completely overhauled and modernized even if it is not yet considered fully operational (target by 2020). The autonomy of the Liaoning it is estimated in 45 days of navigation, equal to seven thousand kilometers at the maximum speed allowed, around 32 knots.
(photo: web)
