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Originally Posted by Ithekro
The first two would seem to be based on the ex-Soviet carrier Varyag (50,000-60,000 ton range), while the nuclear carriers might be in the 90,000 ton range (I don't know if that means they will be a lot larger, or if the nuclear reators will just make it a lot heavier). The refitted ex-Varyag should be doing her sea trials sometime this year.
Note that the Chinese governement has acquired four aircraft carriers for study in the last 25 years. The Australian HMAS Melbourne and the ex-Soviet carriers Minsk, Kiev and Varyag.
The PLAN (The People's Liberation Army Navy) has 26 destroyers and 51 frigates they could use for escorts for their future carriers. They have no cruisers, but then American cruisers are more or less destroyers other than in fuction.
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They're larger, with a potential airwing to match. A Nimitz class can carry 80 or 90 aircraft, though they typically carry less for a variety of reasons. The Varyag can carry 40-50 aircraft. It's also fitted with a ski jump rather than a catapult like the Nimitz, meaning aircraft need to operate with a lighter combat load than the same type of plane would with a catapult launch. Though it also means less stress on the airframes and not having to worry about a mechanical failure seriously impacting your flight operations. It also somewhat makes up for its smaller airwing with missile armaments.
One needs to remember that while both carriers, they were designed for different purposes. The US carriers are for power projection, to sail into a trouble spot with an airwing larger than most nation's entire airforce. The soviet carriers were designed mainly to prevent the US from using that power projection in event of war in Europe and disrupting SLoC. The soviet carriers were intended to give air cover to the ship itself while it engages a US carrier group with long range missiles. The US carriers see the aircraft they carry as the primary strike platform. As such one must wonder if it really fits into China's strategic goals. Though if they plan on using it just to get used to flight operations, we'll need to see what kind of domestic design they come up with. Though that's they're building carriers based on the Varyag seems to indicate that they think it does.