There is enough evidence to indicate that China is expected to have an operational carrier by 2015 which will use a ski ramp. There is also a possibility of China building two nuclear powered aircraft carriers though the veracity of these reports is questionable.

In October 2006, Lieutenant-General Wang Zhiyuan, Vice Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Armament Department stated, “The Chinese Army will study how to manufacture aircraft carriers so that we can develop our own. Aircraft carriers are indispensable if we want to protect our interests in the oceans.” The Russian media has reported Chinese interest in acquiring Russian Su-33 carrier-borne fighters, a variant of the Su-27 already transferred to China. In March 2007, a Chinese Admiral of the PLA Navy (PLAN) was quoted as saying that the Chinese shipbuilding industry was carrying out research and development (R&D) in aircraft carrier construction and could be ready to build such a vessel by 2010.

As early as December 2008, China’s official news agency Xinhua reported that China’s Ministry of National Defence had stated that aircraft carriers are “a reflection of a nation’s comprehensive power.” In March 2009, Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie was quoted in the media stating that China no longer wanted to be the only major global power without an aircraft carrier. During April 2009, China’s newspaper quoted China’s Navy Chief Admiral Wu Shengli, “The Chinese Navy wanted to develop large combat warships, stealth submarines with long-range capability, supersonic cruise aircraft, more accurate long-range missiles, deep-sea torpedoes and a general upgrade of information technology were also in the pipeline. Wu was also quoted as stating that “the Navy will establish a maritime defence system that corresponds with the need to protect China’s maritime security and economic development.” Wu’s reference to building large warships obviously indicated the building of China’s own aircraft carrier.

Major naval powers have aircraft carriers for force projection, thus China adding them to their inventory was only a question of time. Japan does not have aircraft carriers as the Japanese Government considers them as an “offensive” weapon and against Japan’s Constitution; Article 9 of which prohibits an act of war by the state. When China acquires them then Japan might review its policy. The US has twice as many aircraft carriers as the rest of the world navies put together and China’s acquisition of aircraft carriers will be to challenge the US’ might on the high seas. It would also add to China’s power projection in the backdrop of Taiwan, South China Sea and into the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

During the 1980s, the People’s Liberation Army concentrated on the land threat from the Soviet Far East and thus the navy was not a priority. However, after the collapse of the USSR during 1991, China diverted its attention towards South China Sea and Taiwan. As these areas involved use of naval power thus China laid the blue print for the modernisation of its Navy which also included aircraft carriers. China’s maritime doctrine included the stand-alone employment of its navy and joint operations with other services. The first aspect included power projection and the latter aspect was defensive in nature but also included amphibious operations.

Power projection: In order to achieve its regional aspirations, China anticipated an armed conflict in the South China Sea and Taiwan including amphibious operations. The scenario would expand rapidly if the US got involved and PLAN would also have to engage enemy naval forces away from the area of conflict. Thus both sea control and sea denial were the twin aspects which had to be included in China’s future plans for modernisation. China aims to exercise sea control within its inner line of defence that comprises three straits i.e. Bohai Sea, Taiwan and Qiongzhout. Out of these, Bohai is the most important as it protects Beijing and northern China. The Taiwan Strait is also important as it allows PLAN access to the western Pacific. Apart from these, the South China Sea is an area of major concern for China. Sea control can only be achieved through air superiority and thus the requirement of an aircraft carrier capability became more relevant to China. The outer layer of China’s maritime defence was to be covered by sea-denial.

China’s grand design: Supporters of RMA believe that aircraft carrier battle groups are becoming obsolete as they have very high electromagnetic visibility and thus are an easy target for precision-guided munitions (PGMs) and cyber warfare. They are also vulnerable to submarines and mines. However, despite this logic, countries including India are going for aircraft carriers. Off and on there have been reports on China’s grand plans of designing and building an aircraft carrier. Earlier some officers of the PLA Navy projected the requirement of an aircraft carrier but it was not approved due to high cost or it may not have been required in China’s grand design. However, it was clear that a carrier borne force would help China in laying claims on the hydrocarbon deposits and other resources in the South China Sea. Were China to begin operating aircraft carrier battle groups, the strategic equations in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea would be changed permanently in its favour. The presence of Chinese aircraft carriers would cause red alert throughout East Asia, especially in Japan and South-east Asian capitals. The US would also have to review its naval policy in the Asia-Pacific region. On June 7, 2011, PLA’s Chief of the General Staff Chen Bingde confirmed that China was constructing its own aircraft carrier.

China’s Aircraft Carrier Project

In 1992, Chinese authorities reportedly authorised a programme for studying the development of an aircraft carrier. In January 1993, Chinese political leaders decided to step up their carrier programme but they lacked the technology. So they decided to plan the project in two phases.

Purchase of old aircraft carriers

During the first phase, China planned to buy decommissioned carriers in order to study them. China like India is good at reverse engineering but an aircraft carrier is more complex. Since 1985, China had acquired four retired aircraft carriers for study which included the Australian HMAS Melbourne and the ex-Soviet carriers Minsk, Kiev and Varyag.

HMAS Melbourne: Carrier design and pilot training received a major boost in 1985 when a Chinese ship breaker company acquired HMAS Melbourne from Australia. The sale was not opposed as Australia saw China as a counter for the erstwhile soviet Union. It was made to good use by PLAN as the Chinese designers and engineers studied the ship in detail. They also used the flight deck for preliminary pilot training for takeoffs and landings.

During 1975, the USSR commissioned Kiev, the first of a new class of 40,000-tonne carriers, followed by Minsk (1978), Novorossiysk (1982), and Admiral Gorshkov (1984) which was acquired by India. All four carriers were decommissioned after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Minsk: In 1995, Minsk and Novorossiysk were sold to a South Korean firm for scrapping. However, in June 1998, Minsk was purchased by a Chinese firm. Before the sale, the south Korean firm stripped the warship of its armaments, engines, and communication systems and got a guarantee from China that the vessel would not be used for military purposes. The vessel was moved to shenzhen in September 2000 to form the centrepiece of the “Minsk World” theme park.

Kiev: In May 2000, Kiev was purchased by the Tianma Shipbreaking Company in Tianjin but did not scrap it and later on, the Chinese company renegotiated with Russia to allow the Kiev to be used for tourism purposes.

Varyag: Varyag was the second of the 67,500-tonne Kuznetsov class, which was laid down in 1985 at the Nikolayev shipyards in the Ukraine. Kuznetsov class carriers use conventional power, are capable of accommodating fixed-wing aircraft, such as Su-27Ks and MiG-29Ks, and are equipped with a ski jump. Work on the Varyag was abandoned at the beginning of 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. The Chinese Government expressed an interest in buying the Varyag in 1992, but the sale did not go through at that time. Finally, China managed to purchase the incomplete Varyag along with its blueprints. In February 2011, Ukraine sentenced a Russian national to six years in prison for stealing secrets for China.

Indigenous construction: Phase 2 involved the indigenous construction of an aircraft carrier by China. China appeared to have chosen to build an indigenous aircraft carrier, rather than purchasing one off-the-shelf. China’s long-term goal is to acquire one or more aircraft carriers and have an active programme for the development of a design.