Forty-eight J-15's aboard a CV?! Yikes...that would leave little room for anything else. As I've stated previously those are very large birds.
PLAN Aircraft Carrier programme...(Closed)
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Forty-eight J-15's aboard a CV?! Yikes...that would leave little room for anything else. As I've stated previously those are very large birds.
Right, and in practice 24-36 J-15s will likely give you all the fixed wing air-power you need? and still leave room for the helos doing ASW and Rescue. At that things would still be very crowded in the hangar bay, and on deck, once they go to some kind of Cat? (steam or EMALs) there will likely be fixed wing ASW and COD aircraft, which also take up lots of space.
So 6 to 12 aircraft rotating on CAP, another 24 as dedicated strikers is still a very potent air force, especially against any area threat that I can foresee facing China?
asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
Correct gents
Well in reality whatever naval fighter China flys by the time 002 is operational which is years away
Naval J-31? Who knows
But yes 48 flankers would be much for even a 100,000 ton CVN
Well in reality whatever naval fighter China flys by the time 002 is operational which is years away
Naval J-31? Who knows
But yes 48 flankers would be much for even a 100,000 ton CVN
Actually, the two programs are tracking very closely together.
China launched, commissioned, and then exercises with the Liaoning.
In the same time frame, India launched, commissioned and then exercises with the Vikramaditya.
I believe India's operational state with the Vikramaditya at this point exceeds the Liaoning. They have more operational Mig-29Ks, they have had a larger number of aircraft regularly at sea and exercising. We have seen them launch and recover aircraft with ASMs, and we have seen them conduct night operations.
China will do all of these things...they are just not doing them yet.
India has already launched and is outfitting its 1st indigenous carrier...another STOBAR, the Vikrant.
China is building and will launch its first indigenous carrier, 001A, also a second STOBAR.
China and India both intend to build a third carrier after the introduction of their second. Both intend these 3rd carriers to be CATOBAR carriers.
Which one of those will launch and commission first? We simply do not know at this stage. Given the history, I would think China can build one faster than India. But India does have a slight lead in terms of construction and outfitting the second.
We shall see.
To me, it is amazing that both programs track one another so closely.
If they launch 001A in April 2016, it will have a LOT of structural work left to do yet. They have not even started the flight deck, or the bow and stern of the vessel yet. Not to mention the island.
They may do it for political reasons...after all, the Indians already launched their first indigenous carrier, the Vikrant in June of 2015, so they may feel the need to get theirs in the water.
Launch of India's 1st indigenous carrier, INS Vikrant, June 2015
India's 1st indigenous carrier, INS Vikrant, June 2015, after launch.
But that would surprise me from the Chinese. Normally, they are very pragmatic and are not influenced in their own scheduling by such things.
If they wanted to get this new carrier, 001A completely ready for launch like they have done other major naval vessels, I would say it would be in early 2017 before launch.
But we shall see.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
Weren't it Russian pilots doing the nigh ops take offs and landings on the Indian carrier?
Anyways, India has operated carriers for decades, and had massive Russian assistance in developing and fielding of both the carrier itself and its Mig29s air component.
They started from a much higher base, so should be ahead at present, but is unlikely to maintain that lead because of the much greater technological and resource base of the Chinese state and military.
Given the pace of development we have see thus far, I would not be surprised if 002 enters service first, and 003 should almost certainly be built, launched and operationally developed before the 3rd Indian carrier.
I know analysts in the west and Indian itself loves to compare India to China, but that's a little unfair in my view, since India is simply not in the same league as China economically or militarily speaking.
It would be like comparing the UK/French armed forces to America's. Technological speaking, there may not be a great deal of difference, but in terms of scale and scope, there is just no comparison.
Anyways, India has operated carriers for decades, and had massive Russian assistance in developing and fielding of both the carrier itself and its Mig29s air component.
They started from a much higher base, so should be ahead at present, but is unlikely to maintain that lead because of the much greater technological and resource base of the Chinese state and military.
Given the pace of development we have see thus far, I would not be surprised if 002 enters service first, and 003 should almost certainly be built, launched and operationally developed before the 3rd Indian carrier.
I know analysts in the west and Indian itself loves to compare India to China, but that's a little unfair in my view, since India is simply not in the same league as China economically or militarily speaking.
It would be like comparing the UK/French armed forces to America's. Technological speaking, there may not be a great deal of difference, but in terms of scale and scope, there is just no comparison.
I agree that 002 may certainly enter service before the 3rd Indian carrier.
I would expect however that the 3rd Indian carrier would be in service before the 4th Chinese one.
We shall have to wait and see what happens. As it stands, India is going to commission its second STOBAR well before the 2nd Chinese STOBAR carrier enters service...barring some unforeseen event or difficulty.
The 3rd one is the key. I personally believe China is probably already further along in knowing what they want that 3rd carrier to be. India has not finalized a design yet and is still trying to think about propulsion (ie. do they want to try nuclear?).
I expect China may well get their third built and commissioned well before the Indians,, but we shall just have to wait and see.
At that point, that will be the end of it for the Indians. I know of no plans for them to build more than the three.
I expect China however will build at least five before all is said and done, and the 4th or 5th one will probably be nuclear, We shall just have to wait and see.
Blackstone
Brigadier
India also has the option for American assistance on their CATOBAR, so I'd say India has a quicker path to launch a more advanced CV, if it chooses to accept American aide and all the costs/benefits/restrictions that come with it.
Having the assistance offered, and being able to turn that into any kind of effective, efficient, and timely outcome in the yard are two different things.
India has a historical issue of not being able to efficiently build ships in their yards.
Of late they are making some progress...but even the Vikrant took several years longer than they scheduled, and had to be launched prematurely to make room for other vessel builds, while they waited on difficulties to be resolved. They have now launched it...and I believe they will outfit it and move on from there fairly well.
But building an even larger, CATOBAR carrier is going to introduce an entirely new level of project management to their system, even with US help.
We will just have to wait and see how they do...but at this point, even though they got their 1st indigenous carrier in the water well before the Chinese...I would be surprised if they got their 2nd, indigenous carrier in the water first.
Time will tell, and perhaps they will...but they are going to have to prove that they can effectively and efficiently operate against a plan for such a large vessel.
To date...they have not.
On the other hand...to date, the Chinese most certainly have.
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Lauching a ship like that for pure showing/pride is so un-Chinese. I would only imagine Chinese doing it because of desperation (need the same dry dock for 002 which is also on a tight schedule?, in war time?)
These kind of prediction remind me of the "Carrier in dry dock in august" fatacy story that circled around for more than two? years in Chinese forums.
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