Really??
CV-18 Fujian/003 CATOBAR carrier thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
”听风就是雨“ ，Chinese idiom, literal meaning is "hearing the wing and believing it is raining".
Lethe
Captain
A major change like that once construction is underway is very unlikely. It is much more likely that they are referring to hundreds or thousands of minor design changes associated with a large, complex new design where the designers are (hopefully!) receiving continuous feedback from the crew of 17 Shandong. If there was a larger gap between carriers then more of those lessons could've been realised and incorporated in the design of 003 before commencing construction, or alternatively they could've frozen the design of 003 without those lessons of experience. If they are choosing to learn on the run and make changes up to the last possible moment it is evidently because they want both for the carrier to be commissioned sooner rather than later, and to reflect (to the extent possible) the current levels of acquired knowledge. And of course the same dynamics and considerations will apply to future carriers as well, particularly for systems that are new to 003 such as the catapults.
I recall a conversation on the Key Publishing forums some years ago, after Liaoning entered service but before it was known that Shandong was under construction (and derived from Liaoning). The poster suggested that China would (or should) have only three carriers by 2030 because going any faster would not allow enough time for all lessons to be learnt from building and operating the previous carrier before finalising the design of the next one. And I think that was a reasonable argument so far as it went. If this were purely a research project that would undoubtedly be the way to do it. What the argument neglected was the strategic case for a greater level of in-service capability in the 2020s and 2030s.
Last edited:
typo, it's "wind", not "wing"
Apparently, there is no such rush as of yet.
The 002 and 003 represent different mix of capabilities suitable for different missions. The fact that new 003 instead of further copies of 002 followed 002 is likely driven a target date for achieving a specific capability, and not just how many carriers by what date.
That doesn’t contradict what I said.
If the PLA has identify its major opponent being the US... Then they will not go for the 002 especially when they hv something closer to US super carriers. The 002 were already outdated to US... Therefore the 002s can only serve as a stop gap and to allow the Chinese hv some experience operating carriers also to merge carriers to their overall military operation. After they have these experiences... It's off to bigger ships like the 003. And in my opinion, even 003 carrier are stop gap measure to allow the Chinese to hv experience and to work out catapult SOP for future more capable carriers... Perhaps the 004 onward. Meaning, I think we will at the most see two 003. The old Liaoning will be returned once 003 matured.