Details about the project of the new Chinese aircraft carrier 002
According to
Mikhail Korostik in the
"
The Chinese aircraft carrier armed with catapults ," published by the newspaper "
Kommersant ", the Chinese media published the first details of the construction at shipyards in Shanghai in a third country carrier. According to sources, the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP), close to the Chinese Navy leadership, the aircraft carrier will be equipped with a steam catapult, not the take-off ramp, like his two predecessors. It is possible that the necessary detailed data to create catapults were obtained by visiting Chinese military Crimean polygon thread. Upon completion, China will have the second largest number of operating aircraft carrier fleet of the world,
The fact that China will be built two new aircraft carriers, it became known in 2013, but in August 2016 some information was only the first of them, Type001A. In August, the special Chinese sites began to appear Corps photos Type 002, standing on the Shanghai shipyards of Jiangnan Shipyard. At that time it was not yet clear whether the ship installed steam or mass driver. This question is of fundamental importance, since the presence of an electromagnetic catapult would indicate that the new Chinese aircraft carrier will have a nuclear installation and its level will be comparable to the newest American aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford. As reported yesterday SCMP close to the leadership of the Chinese Navy sources, the installation of nuclear engines on ships in the country while "there are problems".
It turned out that the new aircraft carrier will be equipped with at least three steam catapults. This is standard equipment of American ships of this class allows you to run large aircraft weight. But for the Chinese Navy is to be a significant breakthrough: the aircraft carrier "Liaoning" (the former Soviet aircraft carrier "Varyag"), and the Type 001A equipped with only a takeoff ramp. It does not ensure the rise of aircraft with a maximum take-off weight, which is why the Chinese carrier-based fighter J-15 is carried out training flights or with incomplete fuel tank, without any of the weapons. Using a steam catapult will allow to eliminate these problems. "Some time ago in the network has J-15 pictures with a modified landing gear, which allow us to determine that the fighters can be launched from a catapult," - said "Kommersant"
The new Chinese aircraft carrier will have a displacement of about 85 thousand. Tonnes. His descent to the water, according to Hong Kong-based military expert Liang Gaulle, will not happen before 2021. The date of the descent to Type 001A water called in 2017, but its full inclusion in the battle groups will take at least another three or four years. The only current Chinese aircraft carrier "Liaoning" is currently being used purely as a training and in combat operations does not participate. His last campaign was held at the end of December 2016, when the "Liaoning" first came out in the Pacific Ocean, passing, to the displeasure of Tokyo between the Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa.
Vasily Kashin also pointed out that the Chinese steam catapult could easily be created using Soviet technology. "A sample of the Soviet pilot catapults for aircraft carriers has been placed on the Crimean range thread, and it is known that the Chinese are actively explored all there", - noted in conversation with a "b" expert. Polygon thread, located near the town of Saki in the Crimea, was built in the late 1970s. He has a trainer steam catapults, although none of the Soviet ship of this unit and have not received. Before the change of jurisdiction of the Crimea in 2014, the Chinese are actively studied NITKA scheme and built in his own likeness test site in Liaoning Province. Based on satellite imagery in November 2016, this range simulators installed both vapor and electromagnetic catapults.
After the election of Donald Trump, the US president on the network began to appear more and more information about the first secret Chinese weapons samples. According to Vasily Kashin, this may be due to the aggressive rhetoric of the new head of the White House, has promised to start a trade war with China and plan to block her access to the islands of the South China Sea. After the commissioning of the aircraft carriers and Type 001A Type 002 the total number of ships of this class in Beijing will reach three, which would put the country on the second place after the United States among them. This, according to the Chinese public's 2013-2016 strategic documents, would allow the country to move from "coastal protection operations" to "in the open waters of the operations."
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