Re: Great video of Mig-29K Air Ops on INS Virkamaditya
Fact is Vikrant's complete date has been pushed back again and again, it was suppose to be operational now when first envisioned, but look like the new date will be somewhere around 2020, and I have no surprised if that get pushed back.
The work required to be done on Varyag is MUCH more than Gorshkov, and Varyag is completely refit in China, while Gorshkov is completely refit in Russia.
Jackliu, do not be so defensive. I am not questioning the work or how neat it is that the PLAN was able to accomplish what they did. I have tracked it in detail for ten years, It is an amazing thing. The J-15 is going to be an amazing and good aircraft.
But do not underestimate or discount the Indians either, anymore than you would want people to discount what the PLAN has accomplished.
The Indians have actually operated two aircraft carriers for many years. The new Vikrant is delayed...but it has been floated out now at 70% complete and it will not be 2020 before it is complete. It will probabaly be completed in 2014 and commissioned in 2016-2017. My guess is that will be well before a Chinese indegenous carrier is completed, much less commissioned.
The Mig-29K is a good aircraft and it is a complete Russian design just as you say, but the Indians are building an indegenous fighter too for their carriers.
This is not about who is best. It is simply about the technology the two countries are coming out with and how and when they bring them out.
So, the Chinese launched and will commission the Liaoninng first. Good for them. It is a big carrier and will bring a lot of very strong capability to the PLAN. They do not have fighters ready for it. It is likely that the fighters will not start to arrive until mid to late next year at the earliest and it will probably be two years after that at least (about 2015) before they have a full airwing on the carrier and training up.
The Chinese are intending to build at least two indegenous carriers and probably more. My bet is that the first will be another STOBAR and the second will be CATOBAR...but we do not know because they haven't even started building them yet.
The Indians on the other hand, have spent the money and had their people in Russia as the Virkamaditya, which also ran over schedule, was completed and launched this year. It is now completing trials and will be handed over this December. But it does have aircraft ready for it and in fact the air operations are in full swing from a testing and qualification point already for that carrier when they haven't started yet (to out knowledge) on the Liaoning. Next year, the Indainas will embark a full airwing of Mig-29K fighters on their carrier and put to sea. They will beat the PLAN to that punch...plain and simple, barring any unforeseen tragedy. It does not matter where they were built, it matters that the Indians will have that capability and be able to sustain it.
It does not mean the Indaians are better than the PLAN...it just means they will have a fixed wing carrier with an airwing operating off of their carrier first.
The Indians are already 70% complete with their first indegenous carrier and they already started construction on the second last month, in August of 2012. They will complete that carrier by 2017 and probably have her commissioned by 2019 or 2020. Again, this does not make their new carrier better than the PLAN, it just means they have started building their first one long before the PLAN, and have already started building their second.
There's nothing untoward in this about the PLAN. They are methodically building up their capabilitiy and force. They have excellent FFGs and excellent DDGs to escort their carriers.
By the same token, with the new Kolkata DDGs and the new Shival FFGs, the INS also has excellent new escorts, an the PLAN is significantly out in front of the INS in this area.
So, again...no need to get defensive and act like someone is dissing the PLAN...I am not. I am just stating the facts as they sit. The Indians will have an operational STOBAR carrier with a full airwing before the PLAN. The Indians will complete their indegenous carrier and have it in operation before the PLAN as well. But the PLAN will produce both in fairly short order...a year or two in these circumstances is really nothing...and when they do, I expect they will be very high quality vessels and aircraft.
Here are some links of mine that are pretty popular about all of this:
PLAN Liaoning CV
PLAN Lanzhou Type 052C DDG
PLAN Type 054A FFG
INS Virkamaditya CV
INS Virkant CV
INS Kolkata DDG
