CV-17 Shandong (002 carrier) Thread I ...News, Views and operations
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When by that time there will most likely be 4-6 CATOBAR carriers in serivce ? Not likely, spending 1 billion dollars and the space of a dockyard for a period of more than a year is a bad deal as any.
Intrepid
Major
What is so unusual about adapting ships to the state of the art through a conversion? How many aircraft carriers in the world have been retrofitted with catapults and angled decks, or have been rebuilt into a helicopter carrier afterwards?
This is a very ordinary process. And the ship spends the one year in the dock anyway at a lifetime extending measure.
This is a very ordinary process. And the ship spends the one year in the dock anyway at a lifetime extending measure.
D
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So far in modern history, only 2 carrier has ever had a catapult refit(Melbourne) and that was done during her first construction, the second was done on the Hancock as an experimental carrier, and only one carrier was ever converted from a helicopter carrier to a true aircraft carrier (Baku).And quite frankly,there isn't much work to be done for a carrier to switch to helicopters instead of fighter. And in both cases(Melbourne and Baku), the premise for doing so is the same, that the country in question don't have enough money or the industrial complex to get themselves a proper carrier to begin with. Then take China into account, why on earth would a country like China would spend that huge sum of money, time and valuable dockspace just so they can upgrade the CV-16 and CV-17 to a mere 1/4th capability of the CATOBARs ?
It is not "normal" for a ship to receive a radical refit such as this, and it will never be "normal'.
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Intrepid
Major
US-Navy
A new island got: CVs 9,10,11,12,14,15,16,18,19,20,31,33,38,39
An angled deck got: CVs 9,10,11,12,14,15,16,18,19,20,31,33,34,36,38,41,42,43
New or additional steam cats got: CVs 11,14,16,19,31,38,41,42,43
In the Royal Navy it is may be 33% of that number. I remember at least mayor rebuilds of Victorious, Hermes, Eagle and Ark Royal with angled decks and steam cats. But there are some more I can not name.
That is a lot conversion of aircraft carriers and it is "very normal".
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D
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Lets not forget that during that time period the US was embroiled in active conflicts all across Asia at the time not to mention the Cold War. There was a pressing need for carrier aviation, so that the USN was more or less forced to retrofit earlier carriers to fill in the ranks.
For the RN the situation it faces is what Australia and India faced during their carrier acquisitions. Simply put,they are dead broke right after the war.
Both situations are "normal" if you are penniless or fighting a war half way across the bloody globe.
Neither situation applies to China as of now, there isn't a Cold War on the rise that China is involved. Nor is China suicidal enough to fight a war on its own violation in the next 20 to 30 years at least. And China is certainly much stronger economically wise compared to an post war Britain.
To expect the PLAN to spend serious time and funding to refit carriers of a limited value when they have ample time and geostrategic depth in their immediate home front that catapult carriers are not as important as they are abroad is to wish for them to waste funding when it can be used elsewhere. And since there are only a select few docks that can handle carrier sized ships. A dock taken up by a Type 001/A is a dock that can't be used to refurbish or built a Type 002 or 003.
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Hancock was only experimental in the fact that she was the first USN CV to receive steam catapults. She made only one deployment to the Western Pacific and returned to the US to be fitted with the SBC-125 modifications. Placed back in service in 1957 she served the USN for 19 more years making 7 deployments during the Vietnam war.
In 1975 Hancock was converted in a very short time to an LPH..I know. I was there.
Hancock is now an LPH
Fifteen USN Essex/Ticonderoga class CVs were retro-fitted with SCB-27C(Steam Catapults) ,SCB-27A, SCB-125 which included an angled flight deck, Hurricane bow and many other modern modifications.
China may sell them to another country who wants carriers.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
You are very naive if you don’t think there is an undeclared new Cold War happening as we speak.
This is a singular time for China, when the risk of conflict is at its greatest between China and the US.
In that broader strategic context, having as many and as capable warships as possible ready as soon as possible matters a hell of a lot more than a few billion here or there. And the main purpose of having those carriers is not to fight a war, but hopefully prevent one by making the odds too long for America to risk it.
You are also pretty arrogant to scoff at the power of two medium weight CATOBAR carriers, especially if they are carrying stealths. That’s more carrier than the French or British or Russian navies have at the moment. And it will be a hell of a lot of combat power you will be needlessly throwing away to save pennies while risking everything you have. That’s a poor bet in anyone’s book.
I wound say that only well into 2040s or 2050s, when the balance of economic and military power has fundamentally and irrevocably changed in China’s favour would cost effectiveness become a top concern for the PLAN.
Before that time, cost effectiveness comes a distinct second to building up raw combat capabilities.
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