China launches its first domestically made aircraft carrier
| Beijing
China聽has launched its first aircraft聽carrier聽built entirely on its own, in a demonstration of the growing technical sophistication of its defense industries and determination to safeguard its maritime territorial claims and crucial trade routes.
The 50,000-ton聽carrier聽was towed from its dockyard just after 9 a.m. Wednesday following a ceremony in the northern port city of Dalian, where its predecessor, the Soviet-built Liaoning, underwent extensive refurbishing before being commissioned in 2012, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Development of the new聽carrier聽began in 2013 and construction in late 2015. It's expected to be formally commissioned sometime before 2020, after sea trials and the arrival of its full air complement.
The聽carrier聽program is a key part of聽China's聽naval expansion at a time when it is looking to beef-up its regional military influence to match its economic might. While聽China聽says it maintains a defensive military policy, its ambitions are rattling some neighbors who see Beijing as fueling already enflamed tensions in the region.
Chinese naval strategists see the聽carrier聽program not only as a means to protect their country's maritime interests, but also to have "naval power commensurate with聽China's聽international status, to impress both external and domestic audiences," said Michael Chase, an expert on the Chinese military at US think tank the RAND Corporation.
The new聽carrier聽"is likely to be seen as further evidence of聽China's聽desire to become the most powerful and influential country in the region," he said. That will be especially worrying to Indian security analysts who are already concerned about Beijing's ambitions in the Indian Ocean, he said.
India, along with Japan and Taiwan which also view Chinese聽carriers聽as threats, will likely respond by building new submarines and anti-ship missiles, said Ian Easton, a research Fellow at The Project 2049 Institute in Arlington, Va.
China's聽"expansionist behavior in the South聽China聽Sea and its aggressive efforts to undermine the security of Taiwan and Japan, in particular, have translated into a situation where few countries now trust that Beijing has benign motives," Mr. Easton said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang reiterated聽China's聽contention that it maintains a purely defense military posture and "sticks to the path of peaceful development.
"The purpose to develop national defense forces including the navy is to safeguard our national sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as the peace of the world," Mr. Geng told reporters Wednesday at a daily news conference.
China聽has offered little information about the roles it expects its聽carriers聽to play, although its planning appears to be evolving as it gains more experience. The Liaoning was initially touted mainly as an experimental and training platform, but in December was declared to be combat-ready and has taken part in live-firing exercises in the South聽China聽Sea, where tensions have risen over聽China's聽construction of man-made islands complete with airstrips and military structures.
Earlier this year the Liaoning sailed through the Taiwan Strait, which was seen as a message to Taiwan, which聽China聽claims as its own territory to be brought under control by force if necessary.
Wednesday's launch was presided over by the vice chairman of聽China's聽Central Military Commission and Communist Party Central Committee, Fan Changlong, and came just three days after the anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Navy's symbolic founding in 1949. Also attending was navy commander Vice Adm. Shen Jinlong, a former commander of the South Sea Fleet responsible for defending聽China's聽claim to virtually the entire South聽China聽Sea.
Reports of the launch said a bottle of champagne was broken across the ship's bow and other craft in the port sounded their horns in celebration.
Like the 60,000-ton Liaoning, which was purchased from the Ukraine, the new聽carrier聽is based on the Soviet Kuznetsov class design, with a ski jump-style deck for taking off and a conventional oil-fueled steam turbine power plant. That limits the weight of the payloads its planes can聽carry, its speed and the amount of time it can spend at sea relative to American nuclear-powered聽carriers.
The main hull of the new聽carrier聽has been completed and its power supply put into place. Next up are mooring tests and the debugging of its electronic systems, the Defense Ministry said.
China聽is believed to be planning to build at least two and possibly as many as four additional聽carriers, with one of them, the Type 002, reported to be already under construction at a shipyard outside Shanghai. They are expected to be closer in size to the US Navy's nuclear-powered 100,000-ton Nimitz class ships, with flat flight decks and catapults to allow planes to launch with more bombs and fuel aboard.
According to Chinese reports, the new, as yet unnamed,聽carrier聽will聽carry聽24 Shenyang J-15 fighters, based on the Russian Sukhoi Su-33, along with 12 helicopters for anti-submarine warfare, airborne early warning and rescue operations. That compares to 85-90 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters聽carried聽by a Nimitz-class聽carrier.
As聽China聽expands its navy, it is projected to have a total of 265-273 warships, submarines and logistics vessels by 2020, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Naval Analysis. That compares with 275 deployable battle force ships presently in the US Navy,聽China's聽primary rival in the Asia Pacific.
The US operates 10 aircraft聽carriers, has 62 destroyers to聽China's聽32, and 75 submarines to聽China's聽68. The US Navy has 323,000 personnel to聽China's聽235,000.
