Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning may return to Russia

Curious news came from the Middle Kingdom. According to the British edition for English-speaking readers Beijing Today, official Beijing is considering options for the further fate of its first aircraft carrier, called Liaoning, among them: the sale of an aircraft carrier to India or Russia. What is this, journalistic fiction, or can there be quite a healthy grain behind such exotic ideas?

First, I must say a few words about Liaoning itself. This is a former Soviet heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser of Project 1143.5, a colleague of our "Admiral Kuznetsov". Initially, the ship was called "Riga", then it was renamed "Varyag". After the collapse of the USSR, the unfinished TAVRK went to Ukraine during the division of the Black Sea Fleet, as a result of which it almost rotted away. In 1998, the cruiser was acquired by a Chinese company for only $ 20 million, that is, at the price of scrap metal, ostensibly to create a floating casino on its basis. After long ordeals, the corps was taken to the PRC, where, instead of an entertainment gambling establishment, it was turned into a real aircraft carrier, the first in the PLA Navy.



The fact that the Liaoning is not competitive with the American Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and needs to be replaced was said in the Chinese press several years ago. And now the British media based in Beijing writes about the same. Let's think about why India and Russia were named as potential buyers.

Selling Liaoning to India?

To be honest, this idea sounds very, very strange. The fact is that India and China are objectively the main rivals in the Southeast Asia region. The United States views New Delhi as a counterbalance to Beijing's growing military power. It would seem, why does the "great continental power" India need aircraft carriers? And then they are needed to restrain the PLA Navy, which is planning to acquire either four or six aircraft carriers by 2030. By 2025, the Chinese are going to build their first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which will be used in remote theaters.

For this reason, New Delhi collects its aircraft carrier fleet from the pine forest: the British bought the old amphibious helicopter carrier HMS Hermes, later renamed Viraat, from Russia - the TAVRK Admiral Gorshkov, which turned into Vikramaditya. By the way, the latter is by no means something that we should all be proud of - it is dashing to sell abroad aircraft-carrying ships, which we are not yet able to build ourselves. According to the modernized project "Vikramaditya" ("Admiral Gorshkov"), the Indians have built and are currently testing a brand new "Vikrant". The possibility of building a real giant with a displacement of 65 thousand tons called "Vishal" is being considered.

So the question is, why should China sell its Liaoning to India? It is as if the United States sold a couple of aged, but fit "Nimitzs" to strengthen the Russian Navy. For this reason, the Beijing Today information looks rather strange. Unless, of course, this stuffing was done deliberately in order to divert attention from the true goals of Beijing.

Selling Liaoning to Russia?

The return of "Varyag" to "home harbor" against this background looks like a much more adequate assumption. It would seem, why would the Chinese, who are actively building their aircraft carrier fleet, themselves get rid of the first aircraft carrier? In fact, there are quite rational reasons for this.

On the one hand, Liaoning has already done its job. He acted as a training ship, on which the Chinese carrier-based aviation was trained, maneuvers were practiced in practice as part of the AUG. There is no doubt that the former Soviet TAVRK became a model for building from scratch the first truly Chinese aircraft carrier, Shandong, based on a modernized design with much improved characteristics. The new aircraft carriers of the PLA Navy will also have a Soviet "gene" in them. The $ 20 million that Beijing gave for the Varyag to Ukraine is probably the best investment of the PRC.

On the other hand, "Liaoning" is objectively not comparable in capabilities with "Nimitz". The Chinese press complained that over 1200 technical works and improvements were carried out on the former cruiser, but it never caught up with the American aircraft carriers. There is nothing particularly surprising here, since under the USSR TAVRKs were built to perform other tasks and carried, in addition to the air group, powerful missile weapons. How effective will the former Varyag, converted into a clean aircraft carrier, with its 26 fighters and 6 helicopters, in a real battle against the US Navy AUG? It must be assumed that Beijing is quite soberly assessing the prospects for such a collision, therefore they are betting on the construction of larger, more powerful nuclear-powered aircraft carriers equipped with catapults.

However, "Liaoning" may well do good service to Russia. A while ago we told about the appalling imbalance between the forces of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Federation and the Naval Self-Defense Forces of Japan. Tokyo, deprived of the opportunity to peacefully return the "northern territories", clearly brings the matter to a non-peaceful one. The forces available to the CTOF today are not enough to stop the Japanese, or, even more so, to recapture the captured Kuril Islands. As one of the measures to curb aggressive intentions, we called the dispatch to the Pacific Ocean "Admiral Kuznetsov", as well as after launching - UDC "Ivan Rogov". The air wing of the Russian TAVRK could neutralize the total domination of Japanese carrier-based aircraft from two light aircraft carriers of the Izumo class, and helicopters would enhance the capabilities of anti-submarine warfare.

Alas, "Admiral Kuznetsov" is under repair, which will take more than one year. UDC has just begun to be built in Kerch. Japan has problems here and now. If Tokyo dares to resolve the issue with the "northern territories" by force, it will be the most difficult image defeat for Russia since the Russo-Japanese War. But a military defeat for Russia is also extremely disadvantageous for China, since it means the strengthening of the long-standing irreconcilable enemy, Japan, and the beginning of a review of the results of World War II in the region.

In this historical context, the sale of "Liaoning" to Russia with its transfer to the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Federation looks like a completely rational step. Perhaps the Chinese comrades do not trust the speed of construction of the UDC and the modernization of Admiral Kuznetsov, and therefore are ready to strengthen our KTOF by transferring a light aircraft carrier to it. Yes, the latter is uncompetitive against the Nimitz, but against the Japanese Izumo with their F-35Bs, which have limited performance characteristics, it may well give battle. The main function of "Liaoning" in the event of a sale will be to contain the Japanese carrier-based and anti-submarine aircraft in the Pacific Ocean.

To buy back the former Varyag or not, if the Chinese are really ready to sell it to us? Of course yes. We ourselves will build a similar ship for 10-15 years, but we will certainly have to build them, believe me. The problem may be the lack of the KTOF of the appropriate infrastructure for the basing of aircraft-carrying ships. It will still be needed for the Ivan Rogov UDC, which has been promised to the Pacific people, so you need to start building right now. Negotiate a price, buy out and transfer Liaoning to the Pacific Ocean as soon as the infrastructure is ready.