CHINA’S
PLAN Conrad Waters assesses the composition and aspirations of China’s fast-growing fleet.
T
he single most important development impacting the global balance of naval power over the past decade has been the dramatic rise of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The PLAN has rapidly expanded from a coastal defence force focussed on the protection of China’s littoral waters to a balanced oceanic leet capable of deployment around the world. Whether viewed as a threat to international stability or a force for good protecting
24 • December 2018 • www.shipsmonthly.com
the world’s trade routes, China’s Navy is a leet to be reckoned with. The early stages of the PLAN’s growth into an international naval power relied heavily on imported ships and systems. These included Russian ‘Kilo’ type submarines and Sovremenny class destroyers. Some ships still exhibit foreign inluence. For example, the navy’s irst locally-built aircraft carrier is a close copy of the Soviet Kuznetsov class Liaoning, which is already in Chinese service. The leet’s current helicopters trace their origins to either France or Russia. However, the more recent stages of Chinese naval expansion have been marked by a signiicant improvement in its maritime sector’s technological prowess. The country’s designers have proved adept at constructing increasingly sophisticated vessels with little foreign assistance. Indeed, China’s shipbuilding industry is now enjoying success exporting its own warship designs around the world. In some areas, the PLAN may even be gaining
a technological lead. Its latest destroyers incorporate indigenous phased array radars similar to – but arguably more advanced than – those found in the US Navy’s Aegis-equipped destroyers. The summary of the PLAN’s principal constituents that follows provides some indication of the extent of the leet’s progress in recent years.
AIRCRAFT CARRIERS It is probably China’s ambition to deploy carrier strike groups in similar fashion to the US Navy that has gained most international attention. This is not an easy goal to achieve. It therefore seems that the PLAN’s sole current aircraft carrier, Liaoning, is intended largely as a developmental and training vessel, paving the way for the creation of a more effective carrier capability at a later date. Acquired from Ukraine in an incomplete state in 1998, Liaoning was originally laid down for the Soviet Union as the second Project 1143.5 Kuznetsov class ‘heavy aircraft carrying cruiser’ Riga. She commenced sea trials after a lengthy period of rebuilding in 2011 and was commissioned on 25 September 2012. She has since largely been used to train Chinese naval aviators, embarking small numbers