In the
year 1997, The National Agency of Ukraine for Reconstruction and
Development announced a garage sale for a rusting and languishing
hulk of a ship named as “Varyag”that has been lying at a shipyard
near the town of Mykolaiv, with direct access to Black Sea, since
1991, for a reserve since price of US $ 20 Million. There were
hardly any takers for the engineless hulk. In November 1998, a
well-connected Chinese entrepreneur named Cheng Zhen Shu made an
offer of US $ 20 Million for the ship on behalf of his company Chong
Lot Travel Agency. Mr Cheng said that he would tow the ship out of
black sea and take her through the Mediterranean all the way to the
Portuguese gambling haven of Macau near HongKong. He said that his
company would refit the warship as a floating hotel and a real casino
Royale. More than happy at this deal, The National Agency of Ukraine
for Reconstruction and Development sold off the hulk to Mr. Cheng.
Trouble
brew even before “Varyag” could leave the Black Sea port. Mr.
Chong-Pin Lin, a Taiwanese national security scholar found out that
Mr. Cheng had spent 10 years as a People’s Liberation Army officer
of China and his travel agency, Chong Lot Travel Agency might be part
of a Chinese military reverse-engineering project. As soon as this
became known, Western intelligence agencies went on alert. Military
analysts warned that Chinese Navy, mainly a coastal defense force was
trying to acquire ‘blue water’ credentials and capability of
projecting military power abroad. As a result, Western governments
pressured Turkey to deny Mr. Cheng permission to pull his unequipped
warship through the Bosphorus Straits.
Finally
in 2001, Turkey gave consent to tow the “Varyag” out of Bosphorus
straits after a great publicity blitz by Mr. Cheng and his Chong Lot
Travel Agency. On 1st of November 2001 the Bosphorus straits was
closed to all shipping traffic and 'Varyag” was finally towed and
escorted by a flotilla of tugboats and pilot ship through the
Bosphorus Straits near Istanbul. In the Mediterranean, the ship ran
into trouble off Greek coast. She was Caught in a powerful autumn
storm and broke towlines. The Greek coast guard had to land a
helicopter on the deck to help reattach the towlines. In the process,
a sailor fell overboard and died. Eventually the warship was secured,
and it continued on its journey. In 2002, the Varyag reached her
destination and dropped anchor. But as widely expected, it was not in
Macau but rather in Dalian, a northern China port that is home to the
country’s largest shipyard. With the arrival of the hulk, it was
clear that China had taken the first step towards building a true
blue water navy. “Varyag” was to be the first aircraft carrier of
the Chinese navy.
From
2005 to 2011 the ship remained in dry docks as it was refitted with
various systems. It was named as “Liaoning.” On 10 August 2011,
“Liaoning.” began sea trials. In 2012, the first trials for
aircraft handling were made. China established its first
carrier-based air force in May 2013. Even today, the role of the ship
remains mostly training and evaluation ahead of the building of
domestic carriers, with only a limited operational role. Flight
control software, avionics, weapons and radars are yet undeveloped.
PLA officers on the ship admit that the carrier was far from
operational readyness with extensive further trials and exercises
required. Since it is currently only a training ship, Liaoning is
not assigned to any of China's operational fleets.
Boosted
by the experience of building the Liaoning, China now wants to add up
to three more aircraft carriers to its arsenal as a deterrent to the
accumulation of forces in the Asia-Pacific under the US’ “Pivot
to Asia” doctrine.
People's
daily of China in an article on 5th February 2015 has come up
with a report on future of aircraft carriers in China and says;
“ Military
expert Cao Weidong said that China pursues a defensive national
defense policy and four aircraft carriers are appropriate. Aircraft
carriers are typically required for training, maintenance and duty.
If China has four aircraft carriers, with two in the South China Sea
and two in northern China, they can better accomplish their missions.
The
displacement of an aircraft carrier will greatly affect its combat
capability. A 60,000 ton ship can carry from 30 to 40 fighters, while
a 100,000 ton vessel can carry between 70 and 80 fighters. Carriers
of 60,000 to 80,000 tons are appropriate for China's needs at
present. China has no need to build 100,000 tonnes or larger
carriers, like the United States.”
60,000
or 80,000 tonne ships are quite large ones. In comparison, India’s
aircraft carrier, Vikramaditya has a displacement of around 40,000
tonnes. Building these ships is likely to be a tall order for Chinese
shipyards. What is of more relevance now, are the news leaks
pointing to China's plans for second aircraft carrier.
A report in South China Morning post has quoted number of such
news leaks. The report says;
“ A
city government microblog and an official newspaper in Changzhou,
Jiangsu province, separately mentioned on Saturday that a power cable
manufacturer in the city had "won a tender for the second
aircraft carrier". The sources cited a city government economic
and information technology conference held on Friday.
In
January last year, Liaoning party chief Wang Min reportedly told a
provincial people's congress panel that the second carrier was being
built in Dalian, home to the country's first carrier.
Under
the headline, "Planes, High-speed Railway, Aircraft Carrier -
all bear 'Made in Changzhou'", the Changzhou Evening News
reported that the city government meeting highlighted the ambitious
plans for the year of several top manufacturers, ranging from car
makers, to producers of planes and naval vessels. It said Jiangsu
Shangshang Cable Group had "won a tender for the second aircraft
carrier" ”
As
seen from India's experience in building aircraft carriers, it is
really a tough project. China already is aware about this, because
it has taken them 12 years to convert an incomplete hulk of a ship to
an aircraft carrier, which is still not functional to its full
capability. To build 3 aircraft carriers with 60000 to 80000 tonne
capacity would be very challenging, to say the least and would take
China a few decades for sure.
9th
February 2015
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