China working on second carrier
Andrew Tate, London and James Hardy, London - IHS Jane's Navy International

10 March 2015



   


A model of a potential follow-on carrier to China's Liaoning was unveiled by Jinshuai Model Crafts in late 2014. Source: Jinshuai Model Crafts

People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) deputy political commissar Rear Admiral Ding Haichun has confirmed that construction of China's first indigenous aircraft carrier is underway, according to the Hong Kong Commercial Daily newspaper, which interviewed several senior officers, including Rear Adm Ding, on the margins of the National People's Congress being held in Beijing.
Comments were also attributed to former PLAN Political Commissar Admiral Liu Xiaogang in which he said China's second carrier would be an improvement on the refurbished Soviet carrier Varyag , and that construction was now in the hands of industry. When asked how many carriers China would build, Adm Liu referred to speculation that the number would be six but added that it would depend upon the resources available.
In a separate report, the PLA Daily reported the successful development of an electromagnetic catapult, citing the assertion by the project leader, Rear Admiral Ma Weiming, that it is the equal of American designs.
China has been very reticent to outline its carrier plans and ambitions. In January, information relating to a contract to supply components for the new carrier was removed from a company's website after it circulated online. On 6 March, Chinese media reported that two workers with access to bases in Dalian had been jailed for six and eight years for passing photographs of China's first carrier, Liaoning , to "foreign spies".
It has also been reported that a 20 m high wall has been built around the Dalian shipyard to prevent unauthorised photography.
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