Chinese aircraft carrier programme

Since the 1970s, the PLAN has expressed interest in operating an aircraft carrier as part of its blue water aspirations.[3] The first official plan of PLAN aircraft carrier development dated back on 31 March 1987 when the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense approved the plan on the aircraft carrier and the next generation nuclear submarine for PLAN advocated and submitted by the then commander-in-chief of PLAN, Liu Huaqing. The original plan was to be progressed in stages, with basic research to be completed by the end of the 7th 5-year plan, and development of the platform and aircraft to be completed by the end of the 8th 5-year plan. By 2000, construction was to begin when ordered.

To prepare the commanders needed for the future aircraft carriers, the Central Military Commission approved the program of training jet fighter pilots to be future captains in May 1987, and the Guangzhou Naval Academy was selected as the site.[4]

However, Liu Huaqing's plan proved to be too ambitious as the domestic Chinese industry at the time could not meet the goal demanded by the plan. As a result, the plan was drastically scaled back to basic research level and the date for an aircraft carrier entering PLAN service was postponed and eventually put on hold. In the meantime, pilot candidates for warship captain training was also altered, with candidates switched to ship-borne helicopter pilots, because it was considered that naval helicopter pilots with much more ship-borne aviation experience would be better prepared than the land-based jet fighter pilots who lack ship-borne aviation experience.

China acquired the Royal Australian Navy's decommissioned aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne in February 1985, when it was sold to the China United Shipbuilding Company to be towed to China and broken up for scrap.[5] Prior to the ship's departure for China, the RAN stripped Melbourne of all electronic equipment and weapons, and welded her rudders into a fixed position so that she could not be reactivated. However, her steam catapult, arresting equipment and mirror landing system were not removed. At this time, few western experts expected that the Chinese Government would attempt to develop aircraft carriers in the future.[6] After an eventful journey, Melbourne finally arrived in China on 13 June.[7]

The ship was not scrapped immediately; instead she was studied by Chinese naval architects and engineers.[8] It is unclear whether the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) orchestrated the acquisition of Melbourne or simply took advantage of the situation; Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong, a staff member at the National Defence College, has stated that the Navy was unaware of the purchase until Melbourne first arrived at Guangzhou.[6] Melbourne was the largest warship any of the Chinese experts had seen, and they were surprised by the amount of equipment which was still in place. The PLAN subsequently arranged for the ship's flight deck and all the equipment associated with flying operations to be removed so that they could be studied in depth.[6] Reports have circulated that either a replica of the flight deck, or the deck itself, was used for clandestine training of People's Liberation Army Navy pilots in carrier flight operations.[8]

Chinese engineers reverse-engineered a land-based replica of the steam catapult and landing system from that of HMAS Melbourne, and a J-8IIG was used to conduct take-off and landing trials on the land-based flight deck in April 1987, which was not finally confirmed officially until 27 years later in April 2014 by CCTV-13.[9] Both the take-off and landing were conducted on the same day, and the test pilot was PLANAF pilot Li Guoqiang.[10] The experience gained would be later applied to the development of the Shenyang J-15.[11]

It has also been claimed that the Royal Australian Navy received and "politely rejected" a request from the PLAN for blueprints of the ship's steam catapult.[6] The carrier was not dismantled for many years; according to some rumours she was not completely broken up until 2002.[5]

China also negotiated with Spain in an effort purchase the blueprints for proposed conventional take off/landing ships from Empresa Nacional Bazán, specifically 23,000-ton SAC-200 and 25,000-ton SAC-220 designs. Negotiations started between 1995 and 1996 but did not result in any purchase. However, the Spanish firm was paid several million US dollars in consulting fees, indicating the probable transfer of some design concepts.[4]

China acquired the former Soviet Kiev-class aircraft carriers Minsk in 1995 and Kiev in 2000. Minsk, along with its sister ship Novorossiysk, were initially sold to South Korea in 1995 to be scrapped,[8] but due to objections from environmentalists,[12] Minsk was resold to China in 1998 to be broken up there instead.[8][12] Kiev, likewise, was sold to China in 2000 by Russia with a contractual requirement for it to be scrapped.[8] However, neither ship was dismantled and both were instead converted into tourist attractions, with Minsk turned into a theme park[13][14] and Kiev a luxury hotel.[15]

In 1997, China attempted to purchase the retired French aircraft carrier Clemenceau, but negotiations between China and France failed.[4]

Liaoning before refurbishment

The 67,500 ton ex-Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag (Kuznetsov class), which was only 68% completed and floating in Ukraine, was purchased through a private Macau tourist venture in 1998. Following her troublesome tow to Dalian shipyard, the carrier underwent a long refit. Varyag had been stripped of any military equipment as well as her propulsion systems prior to being put up for sale. In 2007 there were news reports that she was being fitted out to enter service.[16][17]

In 2011, People's Liberation Army Chief of the General Staff Chen Bingde confirmed that China was constructing at least one aircraft carrier.[18] On 10 August 2011, it was announced that the refurbishment of Varyag was complete, and that it was undergoing sea trials.[19][20] On 14 December 2011, DigitalGlobe, an American Satellite imaging company, announced that while scouring through pictures taken 8 December, it had discovered the retrofitted Varyag undergoing trials, DigitalGlobe further stated that their images captured the ship in the Yellow Sea where it operated for 5 days.[21]

In September 2012, it was announced that this carrier would be named Liaoning, after Liaoning Province of China. In September 2012, China's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, was commissioned.[22] On 23 September 2012, Liaoning was handed over to the People's Liberation Army Navy, but was not yet in active service.[23]

In November 2012, the first landing was successfully conducted on Liaoning with Shenyang J-15.[24]

Four years later, in November 2016, it was reported that Liaoning was combat ready. China has confirmed that it is constructing a second carrier that will be built entirely with indigenous Chinese designs. Similar to Liaoning, China's second carrier will also use a ski jump for takeoff.[22]

The Type 002 aircraft carrier in 2017

The Type 002 is China's first domestically produced aircraft carrier. Construction began in November 2013 and the ship was launched in 26 April 2017. After being fitted out, China's first homemade aircraft carrier underwent nine sea trials over the course of 18 months, starting from May 2018. The ship was formally commissioned into service on 19 December 2019 as the Shandong, with pennant number "17".[34]

The 002 is a conventionally powered ski jump carrier with a displacement of around 70,000 tonnes. The ship is derived from the Liaoning. It uses conventional steam turbines with diesel generators as propulsion. The Shandong is a significant improvement over the Soviet-built Liaoning. For example, the Shandong carrier's ski-jump has an angle of 12.0°, an angle ideal for launching the Shenyang J-15 fighter, instead of the 14.0° on the Liaoning. Together with the enlarged hangar, the island (which has been made smaller by 10%), and extended on sponsons in the aft-starboard quarter, space has been freed up allowing for up to eight more aircraft and helicopters to be carried. The island includes a second glazed deck which permits the bridge and flight control areas to be separate, creating greater operational efficiency. It also features a faceted upper area of four active electronically scanned arrays (AESAs) for the S-band Type 346 radar.[35]

The third aircraft carrier, known as Type 003, is to be an entirely different design than Liaoning and Shandong. It will have a displacement of around 85,000 tonnes.

In 2015, media reports stated that both an EMALS and a steam-powered catapult were constructed at the Huangdicun naval base for testing; this is thought to indicate that the Type 003 class as well as future PLAN carriers could possibly be CATOBAR carriers.[36]

The construction of the first Type 003 class aircraft carrier started in February 2017.[37] Satellite observation at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai only shows one carrier of this type under construction.

The Type 004 is planned to be larger than the Type 003, and also feature nuclear propulsion,[38] which could power weapons like lasers and railguns.[39] It is claimed that construction started in December 2017[40] at Jiangnan Shipyard.[41]

China initially intended to acquire Russian Sukhoi Su-33 carrier-based aircraft to be operated from its aircraft carriers.[42] However, China later developed the Shenyang J-15 as a derivative of the Su-33,[43] featuring Chinese technology and avionics from the J-11B program.[43] On 25 November 2012, it was announced that at least two Shenyang J-15s had successfully landed on Liaoning.[24][44] The pilot credited with having achieved the first landing was Dai Mingmeng.[45] According to Chinese media reports, the J-15 cannot take off from Liaoning with a full fuel and munition load, being unable to get off the carrier's ski jump-ramp if the payload exceeds 12 tonnes (26,000 lb).[46]

The Shenyang FC-31 is an in-development medium-sized fifth-generation stealth fighter that may in future be adopted for carrier use.[47] The South China Morning Post reported on 6 July 2018 that China is developing an upgraded variant of the FC-31 as an alternate carrier operational jet.[48]