Engineer
Major
Ship Wreck missiles. Not that PLAN is going to outfit the ship with those missiles, but that compartment is part of the structure and can't be modified.
PLAN Aircraft Carrier programme...(Closed)
- Thread starter bd popeye
- Start date
- Status
Oh...since this is a new Chinese build...it most certainly could have been modified.
In fact, I think it has been modified and is probably now an opening into the vessel for a munitions magazine with lifts up to the main deck in the vicinity of the forward launch points.
But...who knows, really?
Time will tell.
Intrepid
Major
On the Kuznetsov the bow is not a place where the aircraft will be loaded with weapons. This will be similar to the Liaoning or her sister ship.
I sincerely doubt it. Like what Jeff said, this is a new build ship and 001A is expected to have some major internal modifications to make it a more efficient vessel than 001.
And that compartment doesn't look anything like the VLS block for Shipwreck missiles on the Kuznetsov class anyway -- it is a rectangular compartment overall on the Kuznetsov class, while it is square on 001A.
Wait, if it's VLS, then how can that ship is a carrier?
It almost certainly isn't a VLS.
And a carrier can have VLS while also being a carrier. The Kuznetsov class has 12 massive P-700s in the middle of its flight deck, but it is still considered an aircraft carrier for all intents and purposes.
Some other carriers in the world also have smaller VLS on sponsons carrying self defense SAMs
Sure, but even considering that, to begin with there is still little to no evidence or logic to suggest that the Chinese Navy are interested in putting a VLS on the bow, and substantial logic to suggest that they would actually probably prefer it was not there.
If anything, I think the open compartment we are seeing is simply an open compartment that has yet to be "closed". Previous larger open compartments were visible on 001A's hull a few months ago as well, before being closed up on top as well.
This, eventually became....
This, where the open compartments were eventually sealed up. I expect the forward bow open compartment will eventually be sealed as well once the relevant subsystems have been assembled there to be ready for integration
edit: If one was interested in using the VLS configuration of another ship like Kuznetsov or Ulyanovsk to suggest that 001A's "open compartment" could be a VLS, then we would need two things first:
1: evidence or logic first to suggest that 001A's "open compartment" is not merely something else (such as an open compartment that has yet to be sealed)
2: either evidence or logic to provide a solid argument for why the Chinese Navy may desire a forward bow VLS to begin with
If 1 and 2 cannot be fulfilled, then the fact that the open compartment on 001A's bow may superficially resemble the VLS arrangement of Ulyanovsk (aka a square) provides no evidence at all to suggest that the open compartment on the bow could be a VLS.
Last edited:
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Remember the Kuznetsov class is classified by the Russian navy as tyazholiy avianesushchiy kreyser or Heavy aircraft carrying cruiser. This follows the Evolution of Russian Carriers From Cruisers and not as there own separate line but where Kiev was more a small Carrier bolted onto a Cruiser, Kuznetsov is a Carrier with Cruiser weapons.
For the Kuz The main offencive weapon is was and remains the Shipwreck missile VLS with the Aviation wing as a secondary. When the PLA rebuilt the Varyang into the Liaoning One of the First things they did was toss the Shipwrecks, In all likelihood a Successor built by the Pla would again lack a VLS aiming for a pure Carrier using the space for additional machine and work shops.
Intrepid
Major
If ship-ship missiles are considered necessary, I would install them to an accompanying surface combatant and not on the aircraft carrier itself.
- Status