A view of the new aircraft carrier’s flight deck. Photo: Sina Military
October delivery rumored; People’s Daily claims no single step of further trials will be omitted
China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier will soon strut its stuff in a second sea trial in the Bohai and Yellow Seas, possibly as soon as this weekend according to Chinese state media, after dry-dock outfitting and adjustments to its hull and propulsion system have been completed. Continue reading
One of China’s most senior shipbuilding executives, who has not been seen in public for nearly two weeks, has been charged with giving secrets about China’s aircraft carriers to the United States. Sun Bo, 57, is general manager of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), China’s largest state-owned maritime manufacturer, which leads nearly every major shipbuilding project of the Chinese navy. Most notably, Sun headed the decade-long retrofitting of the Liaoning, a Soviet-built aircraft carrier that was commissioned to the Chinese Navy’s Surface Force after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Continue reading
China’s first home-built aircraft carrier has recently undergone sea trials and is expected to enter service as early as next year. The Asian power already has one carrier in active service, the Liaoning, a refurbished Cold War-era vessel bought from Ukraine and commissioned in 2012.
In an editorial on May 13 — the day the as-yet-unnamed 50,000-ton Type 001A vessel and the country’s first “combat” aircraft carrier headed out for its first sea trial — the Global Times said “China is gradually stepping into an era of dual aircraft carriers” and its “second aircraft carrier highlights the country’s major progress.”
But, the paper, an influential offspring of the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, stated that “as a major power, China should have multiple aircraft carriers.”
The view that the rising superpower needs to build more aircraft carriers — at least six such vessels, with at least four of them being nuclear-powered — in the future is widely maintained by other Chinese state media outlets and analysts. Continue reading
China’s new unnamed home-built aircraft carrier leaves Dalian for sea trials on May 13. / Xinhua via AP
The first domestically-built aircraft carrier in China’s naval fleet began sea trials on May 13, Chinese state media said.
The 65,000-tonne Type 001A aircraft carrier, which has yet to be named, left the shipyard in northeastern Dalian at 6.45 a.m., Xinhua reported. Continue reading
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The US early Wednesday, April 26, began moving the THAAD missile defense system to central South Korea opposite the border with the North – months ahead of schedule. A South Korean military official said two road-mobile launchers had arrived at the Osan Air Base. One THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) unit includes six launchers.
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Later Wednesday, all 100 US senators are scheduled to gather at the White House for a briefing by US security and military chiefs on the North Korean crisis, as the buildup to meet North Korean belligerence continues apace.
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