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Next Chinese aircraft carrier still on drawing board

HONG KONG — Construction of China’s next-generation Type 002 aircraft carrier has not yet started, according to sources familiar with the project.

The large ship components at the Dalian shipyard in Liaoning province that prompted speculation that China has begun building the Type 002 aircraft carrier. Photo: South China Morning Post

The large ship components at the Dalian shipyard in Liaoning province that prompted speculation that China has begun building the Type 002 aircraft carrier. Photo: South China Morning Post

HONG KONG — Construction of China’s next-generation Type 002 aircraft carrier has not yet started, according to sources familiar with the project.

Military experts told the South China Morning Post that Beijing was still studying how to build the steam-catapult-equipped Type 002 safely and reliably.

Recent pictures posted online by military enthusiasts showing large ship components at the Dalian shipyard in Liaoning province prompted speculation that the shipbuilder, which launched the country’s first domestically built carrier, the Type 001A, in April, had begun building a Type 002 carrier.

Mr Zhou Chenming of the Knowfar Institute for Strategic and Defence Studies said the components could possibly be parts of a warship, but it was not the Type 002.

“The Type 002 project is not decided yet... it doesn’t make sense that all aircraft carriers will be built by one shipbuilder, according to China’s defence industry traditions,” Mr Zhou said.

“The Beijing leadership always encourages two or three weapons manufacturers to compete with each other, just like the healthy competition between Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group and Shenyang Aircraft Corporation in producing warplanes.”

The Dalian shipyard refitted the hull of a semi-completed Soviet carrier, the Varyag, which Beijing bought from a Ukrainian shipyard in 1998, turning it into China’s first aircraft ­carrier, the Liaoning, which was put into service with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in 2012.

A video posted online in December showed Professor Jin Yinan, a former director of the strategic research institute at the PLA’s National Defence University, telling a forum that construction of the first Type 002 carrier had started at the Jiangnan Changxingdao shipyard in Shanghai in March 2015.

But another source close to the military said there were no signs the Jiangnan shipyard was building the new carrier.

“It makes sense that Jiangnan shipyard will win the contract, but we could at least expect to see some components or even a hull in the shipyard if it started construction more than two years ago,” the source, who requested anonymity, said.

“However, we can’t see anything so far. The shipyard is empty. It’s impossible to hide such a huge ship.”

Mr Zhou also said there was still debate over whether the Type 002 would be conventionally or nuclear powered.

“The decision will be made by President Xi Jinping, who also chairs the powerful Central Military Commission, as the aircraft carrier project deals with a strategic weapon related to China’s long-term, comprehensive defence planing,” he said.

“There are several competitive tenders as several Chinese shipbuilders are capable of building a warship of up to 80,000 tons. Everyone wants to bid because an aircraft carrier project worth hundreds of billions of yuan can boost local growth.”

Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said the leadership had made safety a priority because the Type 002 would be the first Chinese aircraft carrier to use a catapult-launching system, and there was “no need to play catch up or meet any anniversaries”.

“Steam catapult systems are more complicated than the ski ramp systems of the Liaoning and Type 001A,” Mr Li noted, adding that China’s successful land-based tests of the steam catapult system were only part of the answer.

“Steam catapult testing on land is so different from ship operation. On land, it’s an independent operation, but once you fit the steamers on a ship, you need to make sure the catapult can function smoothly after integrating with other systems and components in a very limited space.”

Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Dong said the huge vessel components at the Dalian shipyard could be parts for China’s biggest amphibious assault vessel, the Type 075 landing helicopter dock, which was similar in size to America’s Wasp-class vessels, with a displacement of 40,000 tons.

“China plans to build at least four Type 075 amphibious vessels. It makes sense that both Dalian and Hudong are building the same ships,” the source said, adding that Dalian and Jiangnan had worked together on China’s Type 055 destroyer in recent years.

The Type 075 could carry vertical and/or short take-off and landing jet fighters, and military experts said it would also give China’s navy the ability to launch various types of helicopters to attack enemy ships and ground forces in the East China or South China Seas. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

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