China is building its third aircraft-carrier, will it be detrimental to India and Japan? China has left mouths gaping with the announcement of a third aircraft carrier which is said to be a new generation design and fully developed domestically. Amid mounting speculations, China’s state-run news service Xinhua finally confirmed that the third aircraft carrier is under construction and set to challenge the US might.
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Beijing is obviously trying to boost its maritime ambitions and pushed India to the side. Currently, India has one aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, inducted from Russia for $2.33 billion in November 2013.
As EurAsian Times reported earlier, the long-delayed INS Vikrant which is being built at Cochin Shipyard will most likely begin sea trials by October 2020. “It will become fully-operational, with its aviation complex and long-range surface-to-air missiles, only by 2023 at the earliest.” INS Vikrant was sanctioned by the government in January of 2003.
As for neighbouring China, its third aircraft carrier is presently under construction and is in its early stage. China’s under construction third aircraft carrier has given Beijing an edge over New Delhi. The Asian giant has tipped up its scale. According to reports different parts of the carrier are being built on berths.
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A naval expert Wang Yunfei said after the parts are built, they will be assembled to form the entire vessel. He said this is an efficient way to build a large ship like an aircraft carrier.
Based on an image accidentally revealed by the ship’s builders, military analysts that EurAsian Times talked to believe the vessel will be large enough to do away with the distinctive ‘ski ramp’ which already features on China’s two carriers.
On the technical front, the new Chinese vessel will likely have a large flat deck with electromagnetic catapults accelerating heavily-laden combat aircraft to takeoff speeds. According to various media reports, latest state-of-the-art technology will put the ship in a similar league to the United State’s newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier The USS Ford, which is currently struggling to get is electromagnetic catapult and ‘arresting’ wire system up to a state of reliable operation. Xinhua News Agency has further revealed that the third aircraft carrier will be ‘bigger and mightier’ than the Liaoning and the second carrier.
