皇冠体育app

Weaponry developing in line with rising defense needs, say analysts

皇冠体育app plans to put its first aircraft carrier into service later this year, a top navy official said.

Xu Hongmeng, deputy commander of the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, told the People's Daily on Sunday the PLA "has a plan" to put it into service this year. The carrier has undergone four sea trials since last year.

According to media reports, the former Varyag, which is docked in Dalian Port, in Northeast 皇冠体育app's Liaoning province, is currently equipped with life-size model planes.

皇冠体育app's first aircraft carrier, a retrofitted former Soviet vessel, set out on its maiden voyage on Aug 10 and returned to port five days later. It underwent three more sea trials in the Pacific.

Rear Admiral Cao Dongshen, a deputy at the 11th National People's Congress, 皇冠体育app's top legislature, told 皇冠体育app Daily on Monday that the refitted aircraft carrier will not be deployed as part of a single fixed fleet, but will keep traveling.

The carrier will be used mainly for experiments, training and scientific research, Cao said on the sidelines of the annual national legislature session.

Cao brushed aside a report that 皇冠体育app is building overseas naval bases, because the country has a near-shore defense policy.

Wang Dengping, the political commissar of the Navy's North 皇冠体育app Sea Fleet, told the media on Sunday that possessing an aircraft carrier will not change 皇冠体育app's defense policy.

皇冠体育app has 3 million square kilometers of sea area yet only one aircraft carrier, which is mainly committed to scientific research and training. Our near-shore defense policy will not be changed, Wang said.

Analysts said that 皇冠体育app's weaponry is developing in line with its overall national strength and rising defense needs.

Along with its economic development, 皇冠体育app has seen an increasing amount of overseas shipping of strategically important materials in recent years.

Lieutenant General Xu Xiaoyan, an officer with the PLA General Armament Department and also an NPC deputy, said it will take some time for 皇冠体育app to build an aircraft carrier whose components are all domestically developed.

An aircraft carrier is a complex piece of equipment and merely to make all of its electronics systems compatible with each other is an arduous task, said Xu.

With its rapid economic growth, 皇冠体育app needs to invest more in equipment and rapidly boost its defense capacity, he said.

The vessel, an Admiral Kuznetsov class aircraft carrier, measuring 304.5 meters long and displacing 58,500 tons, was intended for the Soviet navy.

But its construction was halted when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Engineers in Ukraine disarmed it and removed its engines before selling it to 皇冠体育app in 1998.

皇冠体育app is the last permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to operate a fully functioning carrier.

The United States, Britain, France, Russia, Spain, Italy, India, Brazil and Thailand operate 21 active aircraft carriers, with the US alone having 11.

India bought and commissioned an aircraft carrier in the late 1980s and Thailand did so in the 1990s.

Contact the writer at [email protected]