htmlOn June 17, China's third aircraft carrier "Fujian" was officially launched, marking the People's Navy entering the "three-ship passenger era."
I was very excited when I saw the scene of entering the water. When I was still serving in the army, there was a photo that particularly impressed me. The content of the photo was an old man wearing a Type 65 military uniform, tiptoeing around to visit the equipment on a US aircraft carrier. At the time, I didn’t even realize that this old man was General Liu Huaqing, who was the deputy chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army at the time. At that time, our navy and our country were still very backward. As the commander of the navy, General Liu Huaqing was very worried about modernizing the People's Liberation Army.
Fortunately, with the efforts of generations of Chinese scientific researchers and soldiers, the Chinese Navy has now become the world's second largest maritime force after the U.S. Navy. These three aircraft carriers are the best example.
But not everyone thinks so. Like our neighbor India, they feel that the launch of Chinese aircraft carrier is nothing to brag about. On the day the Fujian ship was launched, the Indian media "Asia-Europe Times" interviewed the former deputy chief of staff of the Navy who had been a pilot of the Indian aircraft carrier carrier-based aircraft , and asked him what he thought of China's newly launched aircraft carrier. This man talked about some of the problems currently faced by China's aircraft carriers.
Let me briefly summarize his views, which can be summarized into three points:
- Internal issues of aircraft carriers. Aircraft carriers are a very complex system engineering with different departments, including carrier-based aircraft, artillery , air defense, aircraft maintenance, Logistics, meteorology, etc., all departments work together, which is quite complicated. It will take time for China to fully adapt.
2. In terms of fleet coordination, there is a lot to learn about how aircraft carriers and other surface ships such as destroyers, frigates, and supply ships operate together under different sea conditions.
3. He feels that China’s aircraft carrier has no actual combat experience, but India has rich actual combat experience in this regard, so India is far better than China.
I still agree with the first two points he said. Counting from the Liaoning ship , our navy has equipped aircraft carriers for less than ten years. Whether it is the cooperation between various departments within the aircraft carrier or the cooperation with the ships in the formation, we have little experience. However, currently we Aircraft carriers are also undergoing adjustments in this area. But for the last point, I just want to curse, at this level, he still needs to be the chief of staff?
Before the Gulf War, the Iraqi army had been at war with Iran for 8 years. It had rich practical experience. However, the US military had not fought a large-scale war for decades since the Vietnam War. According to actual combat experience, the US military must not be able to defeat the Iraqi army, but the result was that the Iraqi army was defeated. Relying on inferior weapons, the U.S. military annihilated 100,000 Iraqi troops with very few losses. So once there is a difference in weapons, no matter how much practical experience you have, there is no possibility of winning. For example, can a bow and arrow defeat a machine gun?
As for experience in the use of aircraft carriers, we are also gradually accumulating experience. You must know that one of the outstanding qualities of the Chinese nation is to be down-to-earth. For example, the "Liaoning" aircraft carrier is the continuation of the original Soviet "Varyag" aircraft carrier . That successful renewal proved that we already have all the conditions and capabilities to build an aircraft carrier independently. However, we did not directly build a catapult-type aircraft carrier with direct access to the deck. Instead, we chose to build another "Shandong" to consolidate and test our ability to build aircraft carriers by ourselves.
As for the size of China's aircraft carriers, we also intend to follow the scientific three-three system principle, that is, 1/3 of the aircraft carriers will be used for deployment, 1/3 of the aircraft carriers will be used for maintenance and repair, and 1/3 of the aircraft carriers will be used for combat cruising. In other words, three aircraft carriers are the basic requirement to maintain the deployment of forces in a specific strategic direction. In terms of the current status of the three aircraft carriers, we have not yet met the conditions required by this demand. For example, the " Liaoning " is the only aircraft carrier with combat capabilities today.The "Shandong" has only been in service for more than two years and is still in the cycle of developing its combat effectiveness. The "Fujian" has just been launched, so it is still early to say whether it has combat effectiveness.
The development of our naval vessels has always adhered to the traditional law of "small steps and fast running". "Small steps and fast running" refers to "small batch production and rapid iteration".
Domestic aircraft carriers are also following this rule. The advantage of "Shandong" is that its mature platform can quickly form combat effectiveness and its technical risks are low. Therefore, the next aircraft carrier after the "Fujian" will most likely be the inheritance and improvement of its electromagnetic catapult aircraft carrier, and its relationship is similar to "Shandong to Liaoning." Considering that the "Fujian" is only 80,000 tons and is conventionally powered, it is obviously not ideal. It is mainly used to verify the design of large aircraft carriers and related technologies, and is prepared for the construction of larger aircraft carriers. Therefore, the next aircraft carrier is likely to be a 100,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
Small batch production is also to enable our People's Liberation Army to maintain the necessary strength at any time to respond to the challenges of today's world. For the navy and aircraft carriers, the most realistic need today is to expand their scale and enhance their ability to deal with various challenges.
Under this demand, our fourth aircraft carrier will definitely be an improved model based on the experience of using the "Fujian" ship. It is expected that after 2030, the Chinese Navy will usher in the ideal aircraft carrier, and by then it will be able to enter the mass construction state of launching an aircraft carrier every 4-5 years.
China is currently in very good shape in the field of shipbuilding. Both civilian ships and warships are being built in large quantities at full capacity. This can effectively reduce costs and improve efficiency, which is impossible for beautiful countries to match. As our naval strength increases, we will also be able to safeguard our interests anywhere in the world in the future.
