(Sonstiges) Chinas Trägerprogramm

[Erich]

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Beijing admits it is building an aircraft carrier

BY KENJI MINEMURA CORRESPONDENT

BEIJING--China has officially admitted for the first time that it has embarked on an aircraft carrier building program, part of a grand strategy to "build itself up as a maritime power."

A report published by the State Oceanic Administration says the country's leaders decided last year to back plans to build China's first aircraft carrier. The Chinese government and military had kept the program under wraps until now.
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Chinese military sources said initial plans had called for launching a conventional powered carrier with a displacement of between 50,000 and 60,000 tons in 2015. But, with construction progressing quickly, the launch of the first Chinese-made aircraft carrier now appears to be set for 2014.

Construction has already begun at six military-affiliated companies and research institutes in Shanghai and other locations.

The plan calls for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be launched by around 2020.

Meanwhile, the Varyag, a Soviet-era Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier bought from the Ukraine, is undergoing repairs in the northeastern port of Dalian and is expected to be pressed into service as a training vessel from 2012.

The Chinese military is developing a fighter jet to be used on its new carrier and about 50 pilots have begun land-based training.
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wenn die Varjag wirklich 2012 als Trainings-Träger in Betrieb gehen soll, dann dürften 2011 die ersten sea trials (erst unter Werft-Besatzung, dann mit PLAN-Crew) erfolgen.
Die Ausrüstung mit Waffen wie Nahbereichs "goalkeeper" deutet auch darauf hin, dass die ersten Erprobungen unmittelbar bevor stehen. Erfahrungsgemäß ist das so ziemlich einer der letzten Schritte, bevor die ersten Erprobungen auf See beginnen.