You can find everything in this thread. Just read it through in peace.
So, basically what "we know" is not 100% sure? OK...
You can find everything in this thread. Just read it through in peace.
Did you read the thread? Have you looked at all the pictures of the construction progress? Did you compare these pictures with pictures and drawings of the Liaoning and Kuznetsov (indoor and outdoor shots and shots of the construction of the ships)?
So, basically what "we know" is not 100% sure? OK...
PLAN is at the very infancy of carrier operations and ambition and as such much fanfare is created by and about both Liaoning and CV17 etc. I suspect as vaunted and celebrated as these ships are, the truth is PLAN thinks long term and they know full well of the shortcomings of these vessels. I fully expect them to phase BOTH of them out (certainly Liaoning) way before their useful end of lives.
STOBAR and skijumps are just the crawling phase.
They will be decomm when CVs and CVNs come online in the forseeable future.
Unlike other nations where the carrier building and designs are matured, stabilized or pretty much status quo, Liaoning and CV17 are just temporary stop gap vessels to get their feet wet in carrier aviation and provide some useful; force projection capabilities in the meantime. nothing more nothing less.
Unlike say the USN, where our carriers are for the most part relatively similar to say 1990, PLAN of 2050 will be NOTHING like the PLAN of today.