CV-18 Fujian/003 CATOBAR carrier thread

[AndrewS]

I always found it funny some people think China's building multiple supercarriers just to once again deal with the first or second island chain.

There will come a point when people realize island chains are actually China's great island wall

It's more than that.

Roughly speaking, I reckon the Chinese Navy is/will be building twice as many ships of comparable classes than the US. I expect to see this with carriers soon.

Run this for enough years and you end up with a Chinese Navy twice the size.

Such a Navy would be able to defeat the US Navy in a blue water battle and therefore control global sea lanes to protect China's global trade and investments.

China is the largest trading nation, and derives the most benefits from seaborne trade, so there of a compelling reason to build such a Navy to protect its overseas trade (which is intermingled with many other nations)

In comparison, the US is becoming protectionist which means less trade in the future.
In addition, the Chinese economy continues to grow faster and trade even more with the rest of the world.

Note that today, the Chinese economy is already approaching 2x in terms of actual output of goods and services, so this military buildup looks feasible.

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Such a Navy would also secure mainland China from external military attack.

Remember Biden and also the previous Japanese Prime Minister both publicly stated they had the option of going to war with China.

 

[Aspide]

You sound like Admiral Tirpitz

 

[Deino]

A few more nice screen caps.

...

This one is most interesting since it not only shows operational J-15T but even more since it has not only the numbers 15 & 16 as present during the commissioning ceremony but altogether - I see at least - five!

 

[Sinnavuuty]

A glimpse of the machinery bays -

View attachment 164178View attachment 164179


Damage control -

View attachment 164180View attachment 164181View attachment 164182

Images for our PLAN expert, Xavier, to analyze.

 

[Sinnavuuty]

It's more than that.

Roughly speaking, I reckon the Chinese Navy is/will be building twice as many ships of comparable classes than the US. I expect to see this with carriers soon.

Run this for enough years and you end up with a Chinese Navy twice the size.

Such a Navy would be able to defeat the US Navy in a blue water battle and therefore control global sea lanes to protect China's global trade and investments.

China is the largest trading nation, and derives the most benefits from seaborne trade, so there of a compelling reason to build such a Navy to protect its overseas trade (which is intermingled with many other nations)

In comparison, the US is becoming protectionist which means less trade in the future.
In addition, the Chinese economy continues to grow faster and trade even more with the rest of the world.

Note that today, the Chinese economy is already approaching 2x in terms of actual output of goods and services, so this military buildup looks feasible.

---

Such a Navy would also secure mainland China from external military attack.

Remember Biden and also the previous Japanese Prime Minister both publicly stated they had the option of going to war with China.

I'm still trying to understand what leads to the conclusion that the PLAN would need to be twice the size of the US Navy.

It would be far more beneficial for China to focus on trading with countries and giving them the tools to secure their own sovereignties and interests, rather than China acting as the world's policeman, replacing the US in that role.

 

[FirebirdFan]

A few more nice screen caps.

This one is most interesting since it not only shows operational J-15T but even more since it has not only the numbers 15 & 16 as present during the commissioning ceremony but altogether - I see at least - five!

I believe this is not Fujian but Shandong.

 

[Deino]

I believe this is not Fujian but Shandong.

You are correct! Stupid me!

 

[AndrewS]

I'm still trying to understand what leads to the conclusion that the PLAN would need to be twice the size of the US Navy.

It would be far more beneficial for China to focus on trading with countries and giving them the tools to secure their own sovereignties and interests, rather than China acting as the world's policeman, replacing the US in that role.

Personally, I think the Chinese Navy will end up larger somewhere between 50% and 100% (twice the size). Very roughly speaking.

Remember, if the Chinese Navy is the same size, the US can still hope to win.

If China-US relations are bad, then I think we would see the Chinese Navy growing to 2x the size, to make the point that the US will surely lose if it attempts to use the military against China.

It would also be a huge geopolitical signal to everyone in the world that an alliance with the US is a mistake.

That is not the same as China being the world's policeman.

 

[AndrewS]

You sound like Admiral Tirpitz

Well, there are a number of parallels and also differences.

But the Imperial German Navy peaked at half the tonnage of the Royal Navy.
Germany just didn't have the resources available to outbuild the British, never mind build twice as many ships every year.

 

[mack8]

The difference between those times, WW1 and WW2, and today, is that China is the economic powerhouse, the manufacturing powerhouse, the sleeping giant, or other such characterizations. They can outbuild all their opponents COMBINED if they really put the foot down, but like i was complaining previously, it seems the naval shipbuilding program have slowed down, especially for carriers and i think other surface combatants. They need to pick up the pace if they want to build a navy second to none that could successfully neutralize any combination of opponents and secure China's strategic aims.