Here we go again I thought the rumor that the ukrainian expert Valery Babich work in China has been refuted Of course there is element of truth in this article but to say that China carrier development depend on Ukraine is a bit of exaggeration
the Report From Asia Times
The hull of the PLA Navy's first aircraft carrier Liaoning was built at the Black Sea Shipyard in Ukraine. One of the carrier's lead designers is now said to be with a Chinese ship research institute. Photo: People's Daily
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Ukrainian military expertise sought after by the PLA
The brain drain in the troubled Ukrainian defense industry means a talent pool for China to dip into
By
December 28, 2017 3:44 PM (UTC+8)
Ukraine’s defense industry has been experiencing another crippling slump as Kiev’s ties with Moscow have shown no sign of rapprochement, and China has seen an opportunity to cash in.
Weapons and aircraft manufacturers in the Eastern European nation, which used to be in the forefront of the Soviet Union’s armaments expansion, bore the brunt of the USSR’s collapse in 1991.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia have been on the rocks, particularly since 2008, exacerbated by Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Retaliatory embargoes and sanctions slapped on each other have dealt a further blow to Ukraine’s already precarious arms industry.
An undated photo shows Ukrainian experts having a discussion with their Chinese counterparts at a Chinese military research institute. The Chinese characters seen in the background read ‘We welcome Ukrainian experts to our institute.’ Photo: Handout
Back in the 1990s, engineers and technicians from Ukraine’s key weaponry and aerospace conglomerates reportedly sought to recover some of their former activity by moving to China.
And now once again, people from such companies as aircraft manufacturer Antonov, engine producer Motor Sich, Kharkiv Locomotive Factory (aka Malyshev Factory), and Black Sea Shipyard have been making a beeline for numerous military firms affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army, as Beijing dangles attractive remuneration at a time when career prospects back home in Ukraine are bleak.
Valery Babich used to work at Ukraine’s Black Sea Shipyard and oversaw the design of Soviet aircraft carriers. Photo: Handout
Valery Babich, lead designer of the Ukrainian aircraft carrier
Varyag, since renamed the
Liaoning after the PLA’s purchase and refurbishment of the vessel, is said to have been a consultant for the ship’s retrofitting. He is now with a ship research institute in Qingdao,
Liaoning’s home port, New York-based Chinese-language news portal DW News
in September.
The 76-year-old expert has been hailed as the brain behind many Soviet-era carriers and cruisers including the
Ulyanovsk, which was to have been the Soviet Navy’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier but whose construction was halted after the USSR’s demise.
Shell companies controlled by the PLA have also been active players in Ukraine’s sweeping privatization of defense companies.
Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co, a little-known entity believed to be a proxy of the Chinese military, was barred by the Ukrainian Supreme Court in August from snapping up shares in Motor Sich, but just a month later the two companies were collaborating in an aero-engine joint venture in China, according to a China Daily
.
Antonov’s heavy-airlift An-225. Photo: Steve Blechschmidt/planespotters.net
This coincides with rumors that China is exploring ways to resurrect Antonov’s heavy-airlift program and assemble the second aircraft of the An-225 series, the world’s largest cargo plane, which has been grounded for most of the time since its inauguration 35 years ago by economic issues.
Hong Kong-based Kanwa Defense Review has noted that Antonov may have already transferred the An-225’s design drawings in a “wholesale” manner, citing sources in Moscow.
This is against the backdrop that China is eager to draw on overseas talent to propel its design and manufacture of strategic military and civilian cargo and passenger aircraft, and tapping Ukrainian expertise could in effect bypass Western countries’ stringent moratoriums on arms sales and technological transfer.
Yuzhnoye Design Office in Ukraine. Photo: Yuzhnoye/Wikimedia
Another well-worn tactic is to emulate imported parts and products for China’s own copycat versions, as cash-strapped Ukrainian defense companies and design studios are forced to spin off their assets and sell intellectual properties.
As early as the 1990s, Beijing received help from the Ukraine-based Yuzhnoye Design Office, when the PLA’s infant nuclear division was seeking breakthroughs in multi-warhead technology and miniaturization of its nuclear warheads.
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