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| China's current Carrier - Liaoning |
By Harry Kazianis
Reports suggest China will have an indigenous carrier battle group within three years. Don’t bet on it.
According to a June 5 report in the Strait Times (and a timely tweet by @RobertCObrien) the People’s Republic of China will allegedly add some major firepower to its armed forces. While we have seen many of these reports over the last several years, one thing should seem quite obvious by now — take it with a grain of salt, Flashpoints readers.
According to the report, China is “preparing to deploy three new carrier battle groups (CBG) in the world’s oceans, with the first expected just three years from now.”
The Singapore-based newspaper seems to have sourced the information from the latest GI Zhou newsletter. The newsletter is published in Australia and “specializes in forensic analysis of China’s defense-related publications and news sources.”
The People’s Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, already maintains one refurbished aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which was commissioned in November 2012 after a multi-year modernization effort. The Liaoning at present has very little military utility, as China has not fully devised a truly capable CBG to defend the vessel. Most experts consider the ship a training vessel to master the complex processes that guide modern carrier aviation and operations.
The report lays out some very ambitious plans for China’s supposed new carriers.
Read the full story at The Diplomat