Type 001A Shandong Program
The Type 001A aircraft carrier has yet to receive a name except for its technical classification. Liaoning is formally designated as a training ship, and has not been assigned to any of the PLA Navy's three fleets. The Type 001A is expected to be commissioned in 2020, according to according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Some sources report the name of the ship as Shandong, named after a province in China's east coast.
Construction began in 2014. The Press Trust of India website reported that China is building a second aircraft carrier, expected to be completed in the first half of 2017, and to officially join the Navy in 2019. China's second aircraft carrier is likely to be deployed to somewhere in the South China Sea, in response to the "complex situation." The new carrier "with Chinese characteristics" places a considerable degree of improvement and improvement of the future combat capability. Chinese soures claim it is definitely a huge upgrade overt the Liaoning ship. After all, the Liaoning ship was from the last century, and now the level of design already exists a world of difference.
Taiwan, "Central News Agency" reported on 27 January 2017, that "Chinese Defense Review," said the Navy 001A aircraft carrier being built in China should be launched in the second quarter of 2017. It published in the report pictures of the aircraft carrier, and this was by far the most clear details of the aircraft carrier 001A picture.
The ship was in the Dalian, Liaoning shipyard manufacturing ways. In accordance with the construction schedule, 001A should be launched in the second quarter of 2017, into the mechanical, electrical, electronic equipment installation phase. After about more than two years time, by 2019 the aircraft carrier will enter the sea test.
Therefore, by 2020, the Chinese navy could have two aircraft carrier battle groups. Each battle group is expected to have a sliding-type aircraft carrier, 1-2 055-ton destroyers, 3-4 052D-based multi-purpose air defense destroyer, two about 093 (B) nuclear power tactical Nuclear submarine (095-type probability is relatively small). According to the needs of the task, there may also be a number of 054A (B) frigates, 071 (modified) type integrated landing ship (075 amphibious assault ship appears less likely). Imagine, with about 50 of the J-15 (change) under the cover of heavy-duty carrier-based fighter, two aircraft carrier battle groups will be able to produce a kind of deterrent.
Commenting on the new aircraft carrier's potential role in the Chinese Navy, Russian military observer Vasily Kashin explained 26 April 2017 that the new vessel was part of just the first stage in the People's Liberation Navy's carrier development plans. "The Chinese carrier program will likely develop in two stages," the expert noted. "In the first stage, China is striving to build three aircraft carriers (including the already-commissioned Liaoning), which are a development on the Soviet Union's Project 1143.6. These will be ships with non-nuclear power plants, and a springboard take-off system for its aircraft, although the third of the ships is likely to also be equipped with a steam catapult." Kashin estimated that the first Chinese-built Type 001A carrier, launched Wednesday, will be commissioned around the year 2020. "The second 'fully Chinese' aircraft carrier is currently being built in Shanghai. When completed and commissioned, China will be able to provide each of its three fleet commands, the North Sea Fleet, the East Sea Fleet and the South Sea Fleet, with an aircraft carrier."
Kashin recalled that "often times in the media, one finds pejorative assessments of Chinese aircraft carriers of the 'Soviet' type, which, it is said, are technically imperfect, and carry a small amount of aircraft," particularly compared to their US counterparts. "These assessments are not entirely justified. It is important to understand the military tasks which such carriers are being created to solve."
"Unlike US nuclear-powered carriers, Soviet aircraft-carrying ships from Project 1143, including the sole Russian aircraft carrier – the Admiral Kuznetsov, were not designed with global power projection capabilities in mind. The Admiral Kuznetsov participated in the Russian military operation in Syria, demonstrating that it is capable of handling such tasks, but also that it is not ideally suited for them."
Soviet carriers, Kashin noted, were designed "to provide the Soviet fleet with naval superiority in strategically important areas around the USSR itself." The carriers helped to protect patrolling nuclear missile submarines, and to defend the country's costs.
"The first three Chinese aircraft carriers will be tasked with solving similar problems" in the Chinese Navy's East, South and North Sea Fleets. "This will allow the Navy to deploy its submarine forces at an early stage in a potential conflict, will provide the opportunity to monitor the movement of enemy surface ships, and effectively use coastal aviation and ballistic anti-ship missiles in the first hours of war. The presence of a carrier in the South China Sea will make it difficult to make a preemptive strike against the Chinese nuclear missile submarines located there."
China’s first domestically produced aircraft carrier is poised to start its first sea trials later in April, according to military sources cited by the South China Morning Post. "Beijing will arrange a celebration for the first trial because the Type 001A was the first aircraft carrier fully designed and produced by Chinese shipbuilders," a defense source told the Post in a report published 02 April 2018. The celebrations are "likely" to kick off just before April 23, when the People's Liberation Army-Navy will recognize the 69th anniversary of its founding, the Hong Kong-based newspaper noted.
It's not entirely clear what the nature of the sea trials will be. One source told the Post the sea trial would test the ship's performance against high tides. Another source told the Post that "the maiden trial may just involve turning a circle in Bohai Bay, making sure every deck under the water does not suffer leaks." Both sources spoke to SCMP on the condition of anonymity. "Safety is still the top priority of the maiden trial," the second source said, noting that "if no leaks are found, the carrier may sail further to make it a longer voyage, probably two or three days."
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