075 LHD thread
- Thread starter nosh
- Start date
Thats not really a great comparison, a modification is not straightforward on any existing ship and takes more time than bolting together a known design from prefab modules. For the same reason the Chinese upgrade on the Sovremenny or other modernisations (052B etc) have taken substantially longer. A lot more work goes into Kaga too than just putting on a square bow.
Early 2024.
That would've been the case if it were the supposed time that would've taken to modify the Kaga, except it wasn't. That ship started her modification work in Mar 2022 and completion was expected by May 2023. Instead, she only left dock for her first post-modification sea trial in Nov this year, ending up behind schedule with 20 months of work that was supposed to take 14 months i.e. a 6-month delay on their part. Not a terribly significant delay TBH, but when put into perspective that's still the same amount of time for the Chinese to put together a ship twice its size.
Sure, it takes time to modify an existing ship esp. when you have to disassemble the old bow before replacing it with a new one which, by the way, was also re-assembled from prefab modules, plus a litany of outfitting works that had been documented throughout the whole duration (which I had also been following). Meanwhile the 4th 075 will also be undergoing outfitting after its imminent launch, which, if past hulls were to go by, should take another 8 months or so before sea trials, which, incidentally, would also be 14 months from hull assembly to that point.
And BTW, Kaga's original construction took 20 months from keel-laying to launch, also something to put into perspective.
Again, building a ship and modifying it is apples and oranges. And that extends to delays, which are really rather common especially with upgrades and mods, as you run into certain issues only when you do this, unless it is a repeat mod of a preceding effort (which Kaga is not).
And comparing construction times between countries too has dramatic caveats. Yes, Japan built Kaga in 20 months. That doesnt mean they couldnt have built her more quickly. This is mostly a function of how many hulls a yard builds and how the government in question wants to achieve a sustained build rate. Japan practices continuous shipbuilding for naval efforts, but puts out quite a lower number of total hulls as required for their navy. The time taken is a function of this, not the other way around.
And comparing construction times between countries too has dramatic caveats. Yes, Japan built Kaga in 20 months. That doesnt mean they couldnt have built her more quickly. This is mostly a function of how many hulls a yard builds and how the government in question wants to achieve a sustained build rate. Japan practices continuous shipbuilding for naval efforts, but puts out quite a lower number of total hulls as required for their navy. The time taken is a function of this, not the other way around.
Januar / Februar 2024
Well yes, one is an LHA/D and the other is a DDH-turned-CV. The point is not so much like vs like as how one country utilises its yard time and resources in contrast to how other countries would utilise theirs. A delay is a delay regardless of whether you are building a ship or modifying one. In either case it happens, of course, due to the occurrence of the unforeseen as unmitigated without allotting additional time (and resources) despite prior planning.
Whether it's a repeat mod or not is as irrelevant as saying "you run into issues only when you do this", which, as reasonable as it may sound or as "common" as it may be (for a grand total of one example in this case), doesn't excuse the fact that it is a result of inadequate foresight and/or planning, particularly in the context of spending as much time to modify a ship as it would take to build one from the keel up, and taking as much time to remedy it as it would take a neighbouring nation to build a flattop twice the size. To add, the modification isn't entirely complete at this stage either, as more work is yet required on the interior of the Kaga in the next few years still.
So all that just leads to the questions of the efficiency and by extension the efficacy of modifying the Izumos in the first place as opposed to building new bespoke ones that can operate fixed-wing aviation natively; and how willing one would then rationalise the time the Kaga had already spent in the yard was still a "function of the requirement of the navy/continuous naval shipbuilding", esp. in light of the obvious original expectation that a modification would have been more expeditious than building new hulls, when in reality it was anything but.
Also, I wouldn't necessarily say the time it took to build the Kaga doesn't mean they couldn't have built her more quickly, since we wouldn't know without follow-on hulls. In fact, Kaga took longer to build than the Izumo (20 months vs 18 months). So how much more quickly would you reckon they can build one now, when the requirement, hence the judgment, is such that they would sooner possess fixed-wing capability by modifying existing hulls than building new ones, when both approaches apparently take the same time?
That all said, though, I wouldn't dismiss that when it comes time for Izumo's modification it might turn out to be a smoother process. It remains to be seen.
doesn't look complete enough - maybe the coast guard ship on the inclined construction ways is ready? it seems to be already painted white in this photo. Or did that one already launch.
