New Chinese aircraft carrier no match for U.S. ships

In a move consistent with its expanding territorial influence in the South China Sea, the Chinese government announced last week plans to build a second aircraft carrier.

The 50,000-ton, conventionally powered vessel will be built in the northern port city of Dalian using entirely domestic technology and resources. China’s only existing carrier, the 58,000-ton Liaoning, was purchased from Ukraine in 1998 as an incomplete hull. It was outfitted and equipped in China and commissioned in 2013. The Chinese navy uses it primarily for training and testing.

“After an overall consideration of various factors, the relevant authorities started the research and development of China’s second aircraft carrier which is currently under independent design and construction,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Yang Yujun told reporters at a news conference.

Yang said the second carrier’s design and development will draw on China’s experience outfitting its first carrier “with new improvements in various aspects.”

The yet-to-be-named carrier, like its existing counterpart the Liaoning, will use a “ski jump” technique for launching aircraft, unlike the complex catapult system used by U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. The ski jump takeoff limits the amount of fuel and ammunition planes can carry, according a New York Times report.

The Chinese government has made no effort to hide its plans for the new carrier, according to the Times, and The Wall Street Journal notes analysts following its development say even with the deployment of the new warship, China “remains decades away from challenging the U.S. as the dominant naval power in the Asia Pacific.”

The two conventionally powered Chinese carriers are half the size of the U.S. Navy’s 10 nuclear-powered, Nimitz-class carriers, which are capable of cruising nonstop for months at sea and carry a complement of more than 80 combat and support aircraft, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Last week’s announcement may also be an indication that Beijing is shifting resources from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to fund an expansion of its naval capabilities from a coastal defense force to a true “blue water” navy. In September, the Chinese government announced plans for major reforms that would eliminate 300,000 personnel from its military ranks to free up resources for modernization and training, according to the Times.

Although China has not indicated how many aircraft carriers it may ultimately deploy in its rapidly expanding naval fleet, analysts believe the construction of the new carrier signals a desire to back up an increasingly assertive foreign policy in the Pacific with military strength.

“It’s a statement of intent,” Huang Jing, an expert on Chinese politics at the National University of Singapore told The Wall Street Journal. “Aircraft carriers are useful as deterrent and platforms for projecting power against China’s regional rivals, though not against the mightier U.S. Navy.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.