China's Aircraft Carrier Outdoes Russia's In Weapon Quality

Cui Yiliang, executive editor of the Modern Ships magazine, answered some questionsabout China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, from registered users of the People'sDaily Online on the morning of Sept. 28.

When asked about the differences between the Liaoning and Russia's aircraft carrier,the Admiral Kuznetsov, Cui said that the Liaoning was refitted from the Varyag, thesister ship of the Admiral Kuznetsov. Both ships were produced by the former SovietUnion. The Admiral Kuznetsov was in fact the first aircraft carrier independently built bythe former Soviet Union, and many of its design flaws were corrected in the Varyag.

Cui said that according to photos published by the media, the Liaoning is quite differentfrom both the Admiral Kuznetsov and the original Varyag. The most marked changesoccurred in their radar and electronic systems as well as defensive weapons. Thephased array radar is a prominent feature of the Admiral Kuznetsov, but was notinstalled on the former Soviet Union's second aircraft carrier, the Varyag, because ofthe radar's unsatisfactory performance. The Liaoning also has a phased array radarsystem, but it was produced by China and must perform better than that on the AdmiralKuznetsov. This is the biggest change.

"Another marked changed occurred in the close-in weapon system," Cui said. TheLiaoning loses to the Admiral Kuznetsov in the quantity of weapons, but wins in thequality. Compared to the Admiral Kuznetsov built in the 1980s, the Liaoning has moreaccess to new technologies, new equipment, and even new design ideas. As for thecombat strength of aircraft carriers, it is not enough to just consider the aircraft carriersthemselves. Carrier-based aircraft are the core of a carrier battle group. We need topay close attention to the carrier-based aircraft that will be deployed on the Liaoningbecause the combat strength of aircraft carriers actually depends on their aircraft.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/

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