http://www.facebook.com/airinternationalmagazine http://www.airinternational.com | 41design was only finished in 2016,
and that construction started in early- The Type 075 is likely to have
a displacement of 36,000-40,000
tonnes with the ability to carry 24 to
28 helicopters.
Ambition level
Assessing China’s level of ambition
is difficult, since the role of carriers
is essentially a question about the
future of the Peoples Liberation
Army Navy itself, which can
only be best founded on known
developments, current capabilities
and rumour. A carrier fleet is a
logical consequence of China’s
rising ambitions for its role on the
international stage, as an export
nation and as a regional power.To project such ambitions at any
time requires control of the sea
and a carrier fleet is one tool for
achieving that; and if China wants
to enforce its ambitions, a fleet of
about five to six carriers by 2030–
2035 is a sensible estimation.
Although China aims to be
on par with the United States in
terms of military capability and
technology, it still faces many
uncertainties. Even with a new
aircraft carrier boosting its military
power in the Asian region, China
still lags far behind the world’s
naval superpower, the United
States Navy, which currently has
ten nuclear-powered Nimitz-class
aircraft carriers, more than all
other navies operate together.CHINA
On April 28, China’s Type 002
carrier was externally finished
and its maiden voyage was
eagerly expected. All images via
Chinese Internet unless notedFor the first time in Chinese naval history, two aircraft carriers were moored together
in one shipyard, seen in this image reportedly taken in early May.