Operational aircraft carrier a few years away: admiral
During a US visit Wu Shengli, chief of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, revealed the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, will be used principally for training and testing
China’s navy is using its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, for training and testing and will decide on an operational carrier to commission for the fleet after a few years evaluation, admiral Wu Shengli said on Thursday.
The chief of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, on a military-to-military visit with his US counterpart, told reporters at the Washington Navy Yard that Chinese sailors would carry out “very heavy” training over the next two or three years as they assess the carrier.
“After the training and experimentation we will have a final evaluation on the development of the aircraft carrier for the PLA navy,” said Shengli, whose delegation included the commander of the Liaoning and the first pilot to land a plane on its flight deck.
The Chinese carrier was built on the shell of a Soviet-era vessel Beijing purchased from Ukraine. The PLA has revamped the ship, which was formally commissioned in September last year. Flight operations began two months later.
The launch is been seen as a symbol of Beijing’s ambition for greater global influence and another sign of its rapid military build-up. US officials have downplayed the importance of the carrier, noting it takes years to learn to effectively integrate aircraft into naval fleet operations.
Senior Captain Zhang Zheng, commander of the Liaoning, said the carrier was smaller than US aircraft carriers and had a ‘ski jump’-style ramp at the end of its longest runway.