With China's conversion of the former Soviet carrier Varyag and the development of its own indigenous carrier programme, the West should be taking greater notice of its naval ambitions, as RUSI's Dr Lee Willett tells Defencemanagement.com
It's been official for a little over a month: China has its own aircraft carrier programme. The country went public on the long-suspected conversion of former Soviet carrier the Varyag in June, and the ship, although not yet complete, is expected to undergo sea trials this year.
The Varyag is the first, but there are also thought to be a handful of indigenous designs in varying stages of production as part of the carrier programme. It's a development that was long-suspected, but it has now begun to arrive, creating a slew of long-term political and strategic issues that simply didn't exist when the country did not have its own floating sovereign airbase. The first question to ask is why it has taken a country with China's economic clout so long to join the carrier club at all.
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