Warships Military
Liaoning is the first aircraft carrier commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force in China. It is classified as a training ship, intended to allow the Navy to experiment and gain familiarity with aircraft carrier operations.
Liaoning aircraft carrier originally laid down in 1985 for the Soviet Navy as the Kuznetsov-class aircraft cruiser Riga, she was launched on December 4, 1988 and renamed Varyag in 1990. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, construction was halted and the ship was put up for sale. The stripped hulk was purchased in 1998 and towed to the Dalian naval shipyard in northeast China.
The ship was rebuilt and commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as Liaoning on September 25, 2012. Its Chinese ship class designation is Type 001. In November 2016, the political commissar of Liaoning, Senior Captain Li Dongyou, stated that Liaoning was combat ready.
China has developed a carrier-based fighter aircraft, the Shenyang J-15. On 25 November 2012, it was announced that at least two Shenyang J-15's had successfully landed on Liaoning. The pilot credited with having achieved the first landing was Dai Mingmeng. According to Chinese media reports, the J-15 cannot take off Liaoning with a full weapons and fuel load exceeding 12 tons, being unable to get off the carrier’s ski jump ramp. The Shenyang J-31 is a fifth generation fighter aircraft being developed by China that may in future be adopted for carrier use.
The Kuznetsov-class ships were originally designated by the Soviet Navy as a heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser. In addition to aircraft, the ships were designed to carry P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles that also form the main armament of the Kirov-class battlecruisers. This multirole capability allowed the ships to avoid classification as aircraft carriers, thus allowing them to pass through the Turkish Straits between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Under the Montreux Convention, aircraft carriers larger than 15,000 tons are not permitted to pass through the Straits, but there is no displacement limit on other types of capital ship from Black Sea powers.
In contrast, the People's Liberation Army Navy considers Liaoning to be an aircraft carrier. Since China is not located on the Black Sea and thus not considered a Black Sea power under the Montreux Convention, it does not need and cannot use the tonnage exemption for non-aircraft carrier capital ships. The ship was completed as an aircraft carrier, and cruise missiles were never installed. Liaoning is equipped only with air defence weapons and must use its aircraft for surface attack. More details
The ship was rebuilt and commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as Liaoning on September 25, 2012. Its Chinese ship class designation is Type 001. In November 2016, the political commissar of Liaoning, Senior Captain Li Dongyou, stated that Liaoning was combat ready.
China has developed a carrier-based fighter aircraft, the Shenyang J-15. On 25 November 2012, it was announced that at least two Shenyang J-15's had successfully landed on Liaoning. The pilot credited with having achieved the first landing was Dai Mingmeng. According to Chinese media reports, the J-15 cannot take off Liaoning with a full weapons and fuel load exceeding 12 tons, being unable to get off the carrier’s ski jump ramp. The Shenyang J-31 is a fifth generation fighter aircraft being developed by China that may in future be adopted for carrier use.
The Kuznetsov-class ships were originally designated by the Soviet Navy as a heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser. In addition to aircraft, the ships were designed to carry P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles that also form the main armament of the Kirov-class battlecruisers. This multirole capability allowed the ships to avoid classification as aircraft carriers, thus allowing them to pass through the Turkish Straits between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Under the Montreux Convention, aircraft carriers larger than 15,000 tons are not permitted to pass through the Straits, but there is no displacement limit on other types of capital ship from Black Sea powers.
