PLA said to eye four carriers

The People's Liberation Army may build up to four medium-sized aircraft carriers by 2020, with the first two being launched in six years, a military source said.

China's first aircraft carrier would be built along the same lines as the Varyag class, a former Soviet carrier type with a displacement of 65,000 tonnes, he said.

'The first carrier will be launched before 2016. If the trial voyage and other operations go smoothly, we expect China would form the four battle groups by 2020,' he said.

The expert said China still had to solve many technical issues such as synchronising different on-board combat systems. The first Chinese carrier would feature new radar, weapons and communications systems, he said. Some are indigenous designs and others would be imported, chiefly from Russia and Ukraine.

Making the different systems work together, though, would be a challenging task.

'As soon as we can get through all these difficulties, we can build as many as we want, because China's capabilities of shipbuilding and copying other countries' technologies are very efficient today,' he said. China would not be overambitious and aim for super-aircraft carriers like America's, because the PLA had no intention of becoming a global force like the United States or Russian navies.