China to develop more Aircraft Carriers.. BEIJING: Buoyed by successful trials of its first aircraft carrier, China plans to build more new carriers as it looks to spread outits global naval presence in the midst of maritime disputes with a host of neighbours.China is planning to build more aircraft carriers in addition to the two-year-old Liaoning, which it purchased from Ukraine and commissioned in 2012, state-run Global Times reported on Monday. Although Chinese authorities have never openly confirmed whether a homemade carrier is underway, they have also never denied it.Ministry of national defense spokesman Yang Yujun said last August that although the Liaoning is Chinas first aircraft carrier,there will surely be more in future. He said China will consider the development of aircraft carriers in accordance with its national defence needs.Military experts confirm that the country needs at least three carriers to form a basic battle force, the report said. Du Wenlong, a research fellow at the PLA Academy of Military Science, told the daily that China should deploy at least that amount.With three carriers, one is always available for operational missions, while the second is used for training and the third is resupplied and retrofitted.Du also said that most missions require at least two carriers working together.While China was involved in maritime disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan in South China Sea, it competed with Japan over asserting its sovereignty over the disputedislands in the East China Sea. Chinese navy too scaled up its presence in the Indian Ocean, where China has funded a number of ports in Sri Lanka and other countries.China recently denied reports that it plans to establish 18 naval bases while asserting that it submarines presence in Colombo port was only for refueling purposes.Although Chinese authorities have claimedthat Chinas aircraft carrier is not being built with a specific target in mind, military experts said that to maintain Chinas maritime rights Chinese navy will have to break the first island chain blockade to gain access to the Indian Ocean, the reportsaid.The Chinese navys experience in testing and training on the Liaoning will have important implications for Chinas future homemade carriers, it said.Experts say Chinas military logistics infrastructure will soon be mature enough to allow the countrys new homemade carrier, once completed and commissioned, to form a powerful battle force, it said.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 04:32:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015