Re: Ideal Chinese Navy
FYI, RFA Argus has the largest hangar of any British carrier active today (I've been inside it, and both Invincibles and Ark Royals, it's huge!) Practically the whole hull above the waterline from the superstructure aft is hangar, with a side loading door at the stern too and two lifts. argus Hangar is divided in to three bays which can be isolated by fire doors and at 28'000tons she has a capacity on a par with HMS Hermes. The F-35s dimensions have been kept down to a size that would fit on an Invincibles lifts (Argus and Ocean have lifts the same size) probably with a view to export sales, as most of the worlds small CVs have lifts the same size, and this has been one of the primary British influences on the design so far. Ski Jumps are certainly desireable, but not essential for Harrier ops (no US LHA/LHD has a ski jump and they manage) and the RN is probably happy for people to think Ocean and Argus are not capable of full Harrier/JSF operations. After all, they were happy for everyone to think Ark Royal (IV) was to be the last British carrier whilst they were building three Invincibles. If the politicians find out that smaller carriers can do the job, they might use that as another excuse to cancel the CVFs, and I believe the RN already has contingency plans for smaller ships if that does happen. In the meantime, they will continue to emphasise how necessary the CVFs are.
China will most likely produce LPHs at some point to supplement the CV force, but unless they can acquire STOVL aircraft (reverse engineered Harriers perhaps?) the only way to take fighters to sea will be aboard Varyag and similar sized ships. Once they have built one indigenous vessel, it will make sense to continue production albeit at a low rate (one at a time from one shipyard most likely) and build the PLAN CV force slowly over decades.
FYI, RFA Argus has the largest hangar of any British carrier active today (I've been inside it, and both Invincibles and Ark Royals, it's huge!) Practically the whole hull above the waterline from the superstructure aft is hangar, with a side loading door at the stern too and two lifts. argus Hangar is divided in to three bays which can be isolated by fire doors and at 28'000tons she has a capacity on a par with HMS Hermes. The F-35s dimensions have been kept down to a size that would fit on an Invincibles lifts (Argus and Ocean have lifts the same size) probably with a view to export sales, as most of the worlds small CVs have lifts the same size, and this has been one of the primary British influences on the design so far. Ski Jumps are certainly desireable, but not essential for Harrier ops (no US LHA/LHD has a ski jump and they manage) and the RN is probably happy for people to think Ocean and Argus are not capable of full Harrier/JSF operations. After all, they were happy for everyone to think Ark Royal (IV) was to be the last British carrier whilst they were building three Invincibles. If the politicians find out that smaller carriers can do the job, they might use that as another excuse to cancel the CVFs, and I believe the RN already has contingency plans for smaller ships if that does happen. In the meantime, they will continue to emphasise how necessary the CVFs are.
China will most likely produce LPHs at some point to supplement the CV force, but unless they can acquire STOVL aircraft (reverse engineered Harriers perhaps?) the only way to take fighters to sea will be aboard Varyag and similar sized ships. Once they have built one indigenous vessel, it will make sense to continue production albeit at a low rate (one at a time from one shipyard most likely) and build the PLAN CV force slowly over decades.
