China’s aircraft carrier fleet at present consists of two active carriers, one under construction, and at least one additional unit planned.
The country’s ongoing effort to enhance the power projection and prestige of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) air arm kicked off rather inauspiciously in the late 1990s, with the purchase of an incomplete ex-Soviet Admiral Kuznetsov–class carrier from Ukraine. The vessel had been laid down by a Ukrainian shipyard in 1985 and was launched as the Riga in December 1988.
She was renamed Varyag in 1990, but work soon halted, and the unfinished carrier sat dormant until 1998, when news reports surfaced that she had been purchased for use as a Chinese tourist attraction. Attempts to bring the hulk back to China were thwarted by logistical and financial challenges until 2002, when a very-long-distance tow through the Mediterranean Sea and around the Horn of Africa finally brought her to China.
Refurbishment and renovation of the 60,000-ton vessel began soon thereafter at Dalian shipyard, although experts remained unsure for several years if the tourist attraction announcements had been ruse or reality. By 2010, all shaft, propeller, and other underwater work was complete, leaving no further doubt that the carrier would become a warship. Sea trials began in August 2011, and China’s first aircraft carrier was commissioned Liaoning on 25 September 2012, with pennant number 16.
Like her Russian half-sister the Admiral Kuznetsov, the Liaoning’s flight operations employ the STOBAR (short take-off, barrier-arrested recovery) concept rather than the catapults used by U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. The 1,000-foot Chinese flattop has an angled flight deck and is fitted with a 14-degree “ski-jump” to facilitate rolling launch of its J-15 Flying Shark fighters, Chinese-built variants of the Russian Su-33 Flanker.
China Ministry of Defense
The Liaoning’s airwing consists of about 34 aircraft: up to 24 J-15s, 6 Z-8 or Z-18F heavy shipboard helicopters for antisubmarine warfare, and 4 Ka-31 or Z-18J helicopters for the airborne early warning mission. She carries a crew of roughly 2,000, and her propulsion system consists of eight boilers powering four turbines and four propellers. Since becoming operational, the Liaoning has served largely to show the flag and develop proficiency in aircraft carrier operations.
The year 2017 saw Liaoning’s first deployment with embarked J-15 fighters and her first port visit to Hong Kong. Perhaps more important, 2017 also saw the launch of China’s first domestically constructed aircraft carrier, the Shandong. Built to a slightly modified design and initially called the Type 001A, the Shandong incorporates lessons from the Liaoning’s experiences, most notably enhanced aviation features permitting deployment of a 40-aircraft airwing, including 36 J-15s plus rotary-wing aircraft. This second carrier was commissioned into service on 17 December 2019. Displacing roughly 66,000 to 70,000 tons, the Shandong is up to 10,000 tons larger than the Liaoning.
Production on China’s first catapult-capable aircraft carrier, the 80,000- to 85,000-ton Type 002, reportedly began in 2018, and though steam catapults are thought to be under consideration, some sources indicate that electromagnetic catapults may be under development. Production of a second Type 002 is likely to follow, and a still-larger carrier design (Type 003), potentially nuclear-powered, displacing 90,000 to 100,000 tons, may be planned as well.
During the past several years, a PLAN fleet of as many as six carriers was projected, but most recent reports indicate that the fifth and sixth carriers have been placed on hold, while Chinese technological capabilities, budget priorities, and military strategies are reexamined.
