Chinese media reports of plans to build a 110,000 ton 'super aircraft carrier' to rival US naval pow

[Jesus Malverde]

Chinese media reports of plans to build a 110,000 ton 'super aircraft carrier' to rival US naval power

CHINA has declared it is building a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of a size to rival the biggest in United States naval service in the first move of a major new arms race.

Chinese website qianzhan.com cites "top People's Liberation Army" sources as saying the 110,000-ton aircraft carrier should be launched by 2020.

"By that time, China will be able to confront the most advanced US carrier-based fighter jets in high sea," the Chinese-language article reads.

The news follows rising tensions in the South and East China Seas where the most recent incident involved a near-collision with a US cruiser shadowing China's first aircraft carrier, the refurbished Liaoning which was purchased from Ukraine.

http://www.news.com.au/world/chinese-media-reports-of-plans-to-build-a-110000-ton-super-aircraft-carrier-to-rival-us-naval-power/story-fndir2ev-1226788022570

[TwilightGardener]

1. Oh boy, how exciting.

[Logical]

2. Another arms race! Exciting!

[Benton D Struckcheon]

3. They'll have one carrier like this in seven years,

by which time those boats will be even more vulnerable to long-range missile attack than they are now. The USN is figuring these things are obsolete because of how easily they can be sunk. (Remember the Exocet missile from the Falklands war a quarter century ago? Those things have only gotten better over time…)
So, not exactly something that will have the US shaking in its boots. An annoyance, but hardly much more than that. In a real shooting war between the US and China - or more likely Japan/South Korea and China - it would be eliminated in the first half hour. Then everyone would have to start worrying about nukes of course. Aircraft carriers would be completely irrelevant to that calculus.

[Jesus Malverde]

6. Agreed...

South Korea and Japan will need to beef up their own capabilities or continue to rely on the US.

The big winners will be the people who build this junk. I wish we would invest all that capital and talent into infrastructure and people. The trillions spent on weapons systems is one of the sadder aspects of humanity.

[defacto7]

4. I don't see that as a very smart move on many levels.

Probably more propaganda than reality. Past a certain point, bigger means very little I would think, and even a disadvantage.

On a humorous note, it reminds me of the Wasa, a ship built by the Swedish fleet a few hundred years ago. The king of Sweden wanted the largest boat in the world. Every time he looked at it he told his builders to make it bigger and they did what King Wasa ordered over and over even though it bankrupted the treasury. After it was finally finished and with great fanfare they pushed it into the bay at Stockholm... it flipped on it's side and immediately sunk to the bottom of the bay where it stayed for some 350 years. Lots of lost heads.

[Jesus Malverde]

5. That is awesome. I had never heard that story.

The Vasa is an excellent metaphor for many defense projects.

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/class/316/vasa/

Vasa was King Gustavus Adolfus of Sweden's prized flagship. She was completed in 1628 and was the greatest warship of the Swedish Navy... for a few hours. As the ship was completed, it was sailed out of the harbour with all flags flying and gun ports open so that the crew could see and hear the cheers. She was rich in iconography intended to link the king's family to the power and glory of the powerful Catholic Church and power that was the legendary Roman Empire.

The ship was caught in a squall, heeled to port and immediately sank, after sailing a mere 1/2 mile.

[defacto7]

7. Ha, yep that's it.

And I see my German is showing too. Anyway, they brought the ship back up in the 60's I think, and displayed it in the 70's as a museum. I have been in that ship and it's perfectly preserved due to sinking into the silt or clay of the bay, including the smell of pitch. It's quite stunning and as you say a great metaphor for a lot of modern defense projects.

[jsr]

8. Let them build a trillion-dollar ship that can fly and walk.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. One big reason why this is no threat;

Let them build it. Go ahead. Put 5000 sailors on it and 90 planes. Please. I insist.



Then take the 50 plus years to get to the proficiency the US Navy has in carrier operations.

If they or anyone on DU thinks that by simply building it, manning it and sending it to sea it will be a real threat, it means they don't have a real grasp on what it takes to operate a floating airport.

It ain't like operating a frigate, that's for sure. They are ging to kill a hell of a lot of airmen and flight deck personnel before they have any idea what they are doing.