23 December 2010

Reuters: “China Speeds Plans to Launch Aircraft Carrier: Sources”

Benjamin Kang Lim, China Speeds Plans to Launch Aircraft Carrier: Sources,” Reuters, 23 December 201o.

4:08 am ET

BEIJING (Reuters) – China may be ready to launch its first aircraft carrier in 2011, Chinese military and political sources said on Thursday, a year ahead of U.S. military analysts’ expectations.

Analysts expect China to use its first operational aircraft carrier to ensure the security of its oil supply route through the Indian Ocean and near the disputed Spratly Islands, but full capability is still some years away. …

The possible launch next year of the ex-Soviet aircraft carrier ‘Varyag’ for training, and testing technology, will be one step toward building an operating aircraft carrier group, analysts said.

The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence estimates the Varyag will be launched as a training platform by 2012, and China will have an operational domestically built carrier after 2015.

Andrew Erickson and Andrew Wilson of the U.S. Naval College wrote that it was “conceivable that carrier-relevant research, development, and even production … could proceed with a rapidity that might surprise Western analysts.” …

The 300-meter (1,000-foot) Varyag is undergoing refit at a state-run shipyard in northeastern city Dalian, sources said.

A Chinese firm bought the then-engineless Varyag from Ukraine in 1998 for $20 million, planning to convert it to a floating casino in Macau, but the Chinese military then bought the vessel.

Chinese air force pilots have yet to master takeoffs and landings from carriers. They have been undergoing training, but have far fewer flying hours than their U.S. peers.

“They must realize that their learning curve will be costly in terms of blood and treasure,” Erickson and Wilson wrote. …

(Additional reporting by Sabrina Mao; Editing by Chris Buckley and Daniel Magnowski)