plawolf
Lieutenant General
Re: PLAN's first Carrier Strike Fighter the J-15 Flying shark
That's just nonsense.
For a start, the modern aircraft carrier steam catapult was a British invention that was first trialed on the HMS Perseus in 1950.
It is hardly an engineering mystery as to how they work, nor is the material sciences needed to construct them anywhere close to that needed to make, say single crystal jet turbine blades.
The same technology is used on roller-coasters for crying out loud.
It is laughable to suggest building a steam catapult would pose any sort of serious challenge for China.
The PLA is relatively conservative, as are all militaries. That is why they will probably stick with conventional power instead of nuclear for their first indigenously built carriers, and will likely use steam catapults instead of EMCATs.
The PLAN sees the USN as the blue print for building their future carrier battle groups and will no doubt emulate how the USN uses their carriers. To do that, they need their carrier fighters to be able to undertake the bulk of the strike missions instead of replying on their surface ships like the USSR planned, as such, they need true flat tops with catapults instead of ski jumps, and that is what they are going to do.
In fact, it would not surprise me if after their first indigenous carriers become operational, the PLAN sends the Varyag back into dry dock for a major re-fit (and bare in mind we are likely talking about 2020-2025 time frame here) and levels the ski jump and put in some catapults.
Hell, it is entirely possible the Varyag might actually become the first PLAN carrier to have EMCATs fitted, as the technology should have matured enough to warrant sea trials by then, and it would be a lot less risky than building a new carrier with EMCATs to first test it out on an old carrier. If it all goes horribly wrong, it would not be a terrible loss, as the Varyag would be getting a bit long in the tooth by then anyways, so even in the worst possible outcome that she becomes useless as a carrier if the EMCATs utterly fail, being retired early would not be a too much of a waste.
That's just nonsense.
For a start, the modern aircraft carrier steam catapult was a British invention that was first trialed on the HMS Perseus in 1950.
It is hardly an engineering mystery as to how they work, nor is the material sciences needed to construct them anywhere close to that needed to make, say single crystal jet turbine blades.
The same technology is used on roller-coasters for crying out loud.
It is laughable to suggest building a steam catapult would pose any sort of serious challenge for China.
The PLA is relatively conservative, as are all militaries. That is why they will probably stick with conventional power instead of nuclear for their first indigenously built carriers, and will likely use steam catapults instead of EMCATs.
The PLAN sees the USN as the blue print for building their future carrier battle groups and will no doubt emulate how the USN uses their carriers. To do that, they need their carrier fighters to be able to undertake the bulk of the strike missions instead of replying on their surface ships like the USSR planned, as such, they need true flat tops with catapults instead of ski jumps, and that is what they are going to do.
In fact, it would not surprise me if after their first indigenous carriers become operational, the PLAN sends the Varyag back into dry dock for a major re-fit (and bare in mind we are likely talking about 2020-2025 time frame here) and levels the ski jump and put in some catapults.
Hell, it is entirely possible the Varyag might actually become the first PLAN carrier to have EMCATs fitted, as the technology should have matured enough to warrant sea trials by then, and it would be a lot less risky than building a new carrier with EMCATs to first test it out on an old carrier. If it all goes horribly wrong, it would not be a terrible loss, as the Varyag would be getting a bit long in the tooth by then anyways, so even in the worst possible outcome that she becomes useless as a carrier if the EMCATs utterly fail, being retired early would not be a too much of a waste.
