00X/004 future nuclear CATOBAR carrier thread
- Thread starter AETHER
- Start date
Can anyone explain to me why china decided to build a mockup of a carrier in an area with civilian buildings? It seems like it would be an issue for security
I'm not sure why you think it's an issue for security. Do you think people will break in? It's not any easier to break into than any other military installation near a city. Do you think that people will take pictures of the arrangement of the tower or something? This isn't really a secret as it would be completely impossible to keep that under wraps. What exactly is the problem here?
lcloo
Major
The mock-up aircraft carrier has been spotted as early as 2009, i.e. 16 years ago, and debated to kingdom come on our forum then.
There has never been any reported security breach all these time, as far as I know.
The research done on this site is speculated to be electronic based, also possible is to establish certain protocols on aircraft carrier operations. The site has been built and rebuilt each time a new aircraft carrier is built (PLANS Liaoning, Shandong, Fujian, and now 004).
The choice of location was probably security (far inland from coast to prevent attack, a choice made in 1960s under chairman Mao) and convinience since Wuhan city has been an important construction site for PLAN ships for more than half a century, and also the presence of PLAN research institute 701 中国舰船设计研究中心 in the city.
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If your testing a new carrier design here yes it is a security concern you usually don’t want people looking at it because it’s secretive if people can see exactly what your doing it’s not a secret and makes whatever your testing at risk
If it’s only electronic based that makes somewhat sense but it’s still a silly idea to build it right next an urban area for testing. Im sure china has their reasons for this but i just don’t understand why
lcloo
Major
Because PLAN research institute 701 中国舰船设计研究中心 has been established in Wuhan decades and decades long before there is a mock-up aircraft carrier. Why should they place their project at a far away place, and this is sub-urban area, not urban district.
What's so secretive about the exterior looks/designs of warships?
It's what inside those structures/platforms and how they function which actually matter the most (and meant to be secretive). If the public can figure out exactly how those equipment and platforms work down to the absolute minute detail just by eyeballing them, then everyone within 10 kilometers of the 701st Institute would've became 中科院院士 by now.
Moreover, unlike warplanes or tanks which can hide inside hangars and warehouses (or basically any roofed and walled structures of sufficient size) if the military higher ups want them to be hidden - Warships have nowhere to hide, since they are generally too big to justify building large enough buildings to hide them. Sooner or latter, they're going to be seen by the public sooner or latter either way, so why even bother?
Because of natural urban expansion/growth.
The current 701st Institute's location certainly wasn't anywhere near Wuhan's urban limits when they were first located there many decades ago, i.e. when China was still very much less urbanized than she is today. This is the same story with Chengdu AC (and some other military-related research institutes/facilities around China).
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Because you don’t want to risk sensitive information getting out that’s why militaries don’t build stuff near urban areas or keep it there if urban areas are built near by and if it is a sub urban district there is still risk
the exterior is extremely important information, it tells you possible radar capabilities, possible countermeasures on the ship and operational aspects. All of that is imporant information. And if you’re testing something important you usually don’t keep it at the same area to test it when buildings pop up around it.