PLAN Aircraft Carrier programme...(Closed)

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Jeff Head

Jeff Head

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Registered Member
Franklin said:
The fact that the front 4 elevators are not marked doesn't mean that they are welded shut.

You can see the four front muntions elevator marked in the photo.
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Yes, but that is an old photo, before commissioning.

Note the deck markings, particularly the landing area which has not been extended the full length yet. And there is no pennant number.

The newer photos all show those markings as having gone away. In the high-res photo I posted, which is much more recent (this year), here is how that area now looks.


liaoning-weaponselevators.jpg

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I have to agree with Kwaig, who himself has a lot of experience on US Navy aircraft carriers. that the PLAN is not using them now...for whatever reason. If they were in use, they would be marked like the others, for safety purposes.
 
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joshuatree

Captain
Jeff Head said:
I have to agree with Kwaig, who himself has a lot of experience on US Navy aircraft carriers. For whatever reason, they are not using them. If they were in use, they would be marked like the others, for safety purposes.
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Could just be because of present status as training carrier and lacking an air wing. Practicing loading ammo can be done with just two. We've seen them repaint markings on that deck many times. Choosing not to use the other two now doesn't mean they have to be welded shut. Its another time will tell scenario.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

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joshuatree said:
Could just be because of present status as training carrier and lacking an air wing. Practicing loading ammo can be done with just two. We've seen them repaint markings on that deck many times. Choosing not to use the other two now doesn't mean they have to be welded shut. Its another time will tell scenario.
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Yes it is. Time will certainly tell.

For the time being, as I said, they are certainly not using them.

As to whether they have been welded shut or not...short of being on the deck and being able to inspect them, we certainly cannot know for sure.
 
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15 year old

New Member
On chinese forums everybody has been buzzing that China has developed its own EMALS. They say that it was developed by a researcher at one of China's naval universities in Wuhan. Not sure if true, thoughts?
 
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latenlazy

Brigadier
15 year old said:
On chinese forums everybody has been buzzing that China has developed its own EMALS. They say that it was developed by a researcher at one of China's naval universities in Wuhan. Not sure if true, thoughts?
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Most of us here think that China is developing EMALS, but no one really knows where they are on the technology.
 
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jobjed

Captain
15 year old said:
On chinese forums everybody has been buzzing that China has developed its own EMALS. They say that it was developed by a researcher at one of China's naval universities in Wuhan. Not sure if true, thoughts?
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The way you put it is that a single person developed an EMALS by him/her self? That doesn't sound altogether possible. If you meant an entire university developed an EMALS, then that is a plausible occurrence but we haven't seen any evidence of the design being put into use yet. Once the PLAN has finalised the design, they'll likely incorporate the EMALS into the training facility being discussed here; http://www.sinodefenceforum.com/navy/plan-naval-aviation-training-facility-6436.html. Until such a system appears or a PLAN source confirms the existence of such a system, then it is impossible to determine the truthfulness of this news with 100% certainty. It is however, assumed that the PLAN is already looking into EMALS technology if they haven't designed one, as that is the logical step from current STOBAR operations.
 
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latenlazy

Brigadier
jobjed said:
The way you put it is that a single person developed an EMALS by him/her self? That doesn't sound altogether possible. If you meant an entire university developed an EMALS, then that is a plausible occurrence but we haven't seen any evidence of the design being put into use yet. Once the PLAN has finalised the design, they'll likely incorporate the EMALS into the training facility being discussed here; http://www.sinodefenceforum.com/navy/plan-naval-aviation-training-facility-6436.html. Until such a system appears or a PLAN source confirms the existence of such a system, then it is impossible to determine the truthfulness of this news with 100% certainty. It is however, assumed that the PLAN is already looking into EMALS technology if they haven't designed one, as that is the logical step from current STOBAR operations.
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They would probably perform testing at a different facility before installing one at the naval training facility. The naval training facility would probably only get one installed if it were the final product identical to one they intended to install on a carrier.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
15 year old said:
On chinese forums everybody has been buzzing that China has developed its own EMALS. They say that it was developed by a researcher at one of China's naval universities in Wuhan. Not sure if true, thoughts?
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They are most certainly researching it, and trying to develop it. But they certainly have nothing operational yet.

At some point, they will have a prototype that they will test and test and test and work out all of the bugs. We have not seen that yet...but it is not something that we would necessarily see.

After that, they will rework the design to address the issues, and then an initial version will be set up at one of their naval facilities for final evaluation. Once that happens, and they are satisfied with its performance, then they would begin building them into their next class of carrier (presuming they have the power issues worked out to provide it with enough power...probably an integrated power system on a nuclear vessel), and then as that was being built, they would also put one into their Naval Training Facility.

Chances are that the PLAN is many years away from having any operational EMALS catapult.

My own personal guess is that the PLAN will proceed with the following basic schedule (give or take 3-4 years):

2011-2015 - Liaoning commissioned and worked up. (No catapults)
2014-2017 - Two new, indigenous STOBAR Carriers build. (Chance of designing for a future steam catapult)
2018-2020 - New STOBAR Carriers worked up without catapults.
2022-2025 - New CATOBAR Carrier builds. (Conventional power with Steam Catapults)
2024-2027 - Second CATOBAR Carrier builds. (Conventional power with Steam Catapults)
2026-2029 - Two new CATOBAR Carrier work up,
2030-2032 - Potential retrofit of steam cats back to 1st two indigenous carriers if they were designed for it.
2034-2038 - 1st nuclear powered carrier with potential EMALS catapults builds.
2038-2040 - 1st nuclear powered carrier works up, and then replaces Liaoning in 2042 or so.
2042 - Forward PLAN builds nuclear carriers, maintaining 5 carriers and replacing old ones as they retire.
 
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latenlazy

Brigadier
Jeff Head said:
They are most certainly researching it, and trying to develop it. But they certainly have nothing operational yet.

At some point, they will have a prototype that they will test and test and test and work out all of the bugs. We have not seen that yet...but it is not something that we would necessarily see.

After that, they will rework the design to address the issues, and then an initial version will be set up at one of their naval facilities for final evaluation. Once that happens, and they are satisfied with its performance, then they would begin building them into their next class of carrier (presuming they have the power issues worked out to provide it with enough power...probably an integrated power system on a nuclear vessel), and then as that was being built, they would also put one into their Naval Training Facility.

Chances are that the PLAN is many years away from having any operational EMALS catapult.

My own personal guess is that the PLAN will proceed with the following basic schedule (give or take 3-4 years):

2011-2015 - Liaoning commissioned and worked up. (No catapults)
2014-2017 - Two new, indigenous STOBAR Carriers build. (Chance of designing for a future steam catapult)
2018-2020 - New STOBAR Carriers worked up without catapults.
2022-2025 - New CATOBAR Carrier builds. (Conventional power with Steam Catapults)
2024-2027 - Second CATOBAR Carrier builds. (Conventional power with Steam Catapults)
2026-2029 - Two new CATOBAR Carrier work up,
2030-2032 - Potential retrofit of steam cats back to 1st two indigenous carriers if they were designed for it.
2034-2038 - 1st nuclear powered carrier with potential EMALS catapults builds.
2038-2040 - 1st nuclear powered carrier works up, and then replaces Liaoning in 2042 or so.
2042 - Forward PLAN builds nuclear carriers, maintaining 5 carriers and replacing old ones as they retire.
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I still think China's a bit further along with EMALS than it may initially seem. They've invested A LOT of time and effort into maglev technology, which has many many things in common with electromagnetic rail technology. There is a bottleneck with the power supply though.
 
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