China's burgeoning naval power

China’s dream of reaching parity with the US by having ten aircraft carriers has moved one step further with the construction of a third home-designed platform now beginning to take shape. The carrier programme is at the heart of China’s long-term plan to develop a navy capable of defending its expanding interests in the Asia-Pacific and to create a maritime force with a global role to rival the US. Beijing plans to have ten carriers within 30 years.The third Chinese-designed carrier now being built at Shanghai Jiangnan shipyard will be on a different scale both in size and technological capability compared to its two predecessors. For its new platform, China appears to be taking on board design innovations that replicate features introduced by the US and British navies for their latest aircraft carriers. These include two lower-profile control-tower islands on the flight deck, similar to the design for the Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth, and an electromagnetic aircraft launch system pioneered by the US for the new-generation USS Gerald R Ford supercarrier which has recently completed equipment-testing sea trials. The first Chinese carrier to become operational was the Liaoning, but this was a refurbished Soviet warship bought from Ukraine and has been used to train crews for carrier operations. The first indigenous carrier, dubbed Type 001A, was launched last April, and could be in service by the end of this year. The second, Type 002, is nearing completion and is expected to be launched in the next few months.The rate and scale of the carrier programme matches the rapid development of China’s military capabilities in other areas, including its short-range, medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, its submarine and destroyer forces and cyber warfare expertise. A former senior Pentagon official and current adviser to the US defence department, says China’s intent is to create a maritime force capable of conducting major offensive operations. “There appears to be no end in sight for China’s naval expansion,” Andrew Krepinevich concludes in an analysis of the growing challenge faced by the US and Japan in the region. The Type 003 under construction will be closer to the American Nimitz and Gerald R Ford class carriers. It will carry between 70 and 100 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and is expected to be nuclear-powered. To complement the construction programme, China is steadily building up its escort destroyer force in order to have four carrier strike groups by 2030. The latest is the Type 055 destroyer which was launched in June last year. China is currently building four of these destroyers, two of which are earmarked to escort the Type 001A carrier when it comes into service. “From a fleet of very modest capabilities some two decades ago, the PLAN has been built up into an imposing force that stands as the largest in Asia, with more than 300 surface ships, submarines, amphibious ships and patrol craft,” Dr Krepinevich says. FOOTNOTE: So Theresa May was thwarted in her now infamous Cabinet reshuffle yesterday. All the rumours prior to the reshuffle were that Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, was going to be promoted to be Theresa's number 2, unofficially deputy prime minister. That was being put about to all the Westminister political editors and correspondents. But on the day of the reshuffle, nothing like that happened. Theresa told Hunt she wanted him to swap from running the NHS to being Business Secretary. He refused. He REFUSED!!! He argued for two hours that he wanted to stay at the Health Department to see through the hard winter. Unbelievably, she caved in and said oh all right. So then she had to keep the current Business Secretary, Greg Clark, in place, even though she had wanted to boot him out. Beyond belief! She's the PM, she should have told these upstart blokes to do as they were bl.... well told and get the hell out of her office. Maggie Thatcher would have done!