Sorry Mr. Head, I mean no disrespect, but not knowing what the qualification standards are for both the pilots and the aircraft I must withold my enthusiasm. So far all I have seen are some PR or propaganda pieces for a half assed carrier and some aircraft that due to the lack of catapults will lack sufficient range and the ability to get airborne with a decent load of weapons as to be a negible threat to any serious competitor. Just my 30 years USN experience thinking out loud.
None taken.
The Chinese have a decent STOBAR carrier, with all its limitations. They have a very good strike fighter with a high thrust to weight ratio to operate off of it. They will have more range and more ordinance than we typically imagine because of the capabilities of the J-15, and I expect they will figure out and institute refueling, minimally from buddy stores themselves.
They have now completely refit and modernized this carrier, put it to sea, reverse engineered and are building themselves the J-15 strike fighter from their SU-27 - J-11B and SU-33 prototype experience, and now are deploying that aboard their new carrier.
They have spent significant resources, funds, and man-hours and intellect getting here. They have built and instituted a large Naval Aviation training facility which their new pilots attend and graduate from in order to get the chance to start qualifying on the carrier.
Do they have a long way to go? You bet! Of course. They have just started.
But it is also clear that they currently have the will and the resources to move forward, and they are doing so. I expect they will take 3-4 more years just to get their two squadrons up to speed and qualified on the many issues they require for full operation of their carrier...minimally. But, at that point they will be in a position for this carrier to perform the naval duties they desire. By that time, they may well have another carrier well along in construction and about to be launched.
I expect we will see them build somewhere around five carriers before all is said and done...and they will be decent vessels, with strong air-wings and strike groups around them. They will make a large difference in the WESTPAC and already the other nations in the area (Australia, Japan, Korea, and India) are reacting and preparing for that eventuality. So are we. It is a part of what the Pacific pivot is all about.
Now, we are not presenting a stationary target either. With the new technologies, weapons systems, and aircraft the US is bringing online in the next 10-15 years, we, of course will strive to maintain our edge and significant quantitative and qualitative lead.
But there is no doubt that the PLAN will have significantly closed the gap, going from having no fixed-wing, at sea naval aviation arm, to having the second most powerful capability in that area on earth in that same time frame. So what was an almost incalcuable quantum lead by the US will turn into a major lead...but not as much as it was, and something we will (along with the other nations in the area) have to take note of, respect, and plan for.
That's the point I am making.
What is your point ? We are not here to discuss politic. You are entitle to your bias prejudice or red neck attitude But please keep it to yourself
Why should he keep his opinion to himself, Hendrik. You just said he was entitled to it.
If you have nothing to contribute but sneering maybe you should visit other forum that is more inline with your ideology . Very annoying post
Hendrik, Jack has 30 years US Navy experience. His thoughts may annoy you, but IMHO, you should respect that experience and try and glean whatever you can from it...even if it may tend to pop bubbles.
The US Navy and numerous veterans underestimated the Japanese in the 1930s and paid a heavy price for it later. I know, my Dad lived through it as a US Navy combat officer in the PTO. It took two years of hard combat, hard lessons, and a lot of loss of life for the US command to get its head around what was happening and then start pushing it back and rolling it up. I do not believe the Chinese and the PLAN should be underestimated in the least. They clearly have the will and the resource to take on this significant challenge, persevere, and progress at it. They also have their eyes fixed on the more distant goals. Sometimes it is easy to look at the apparent differences and believe they cannot be overcome.
I see huge strides in the last ten years. Perhaps the US lead is still...let's say for arguments sake...10 miles ahead of the Chinese, where the PRC may make up a 1/2 mile a year even if the US keeps its own foot to the metal, and faster if the US lets up in the least. However, ten years ago, the lead the US had was more like 50+ miles because the PLAN had no carrier or modern war vessel capability. That is changing, and rapidly now.
That is what has occurred by the PLAN engaging the technology, putting together arguably the 3rd or 4th best type of carrier in the world (behind only the US super carriers and perhaps the French nuclear carrier at this point) , and now deploying a world class fighter on it. Particularly if they get three such vessels in the water over the next ten years or so.
