Diesel engines with short voyage reserves or heavy aircraft fighters can limit the strength of the Shandong Chinese aircraft carrier.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on December 17 signed an order for the Shandong aircraft carrier of Type-001A at Sanya base on Hainan island. Chinese media describe this as an important milestone in China's effort to build naval power, helping China close the gap with the United States.

However, international military experts point out that the Shandong ship was commissioned eight months later than planned, suggesting that China appears to have encountered a number of technical problems during the shipyard construction process. Inland first. In addition, limitations on tactical characteristics can also make Shandong not much superior to China's predecessor Liaoning.

"Shandong aircraft carrier has many improvements compared to Liaoning such as new radar equipment, the size of the ship is also a bit larger, the flight deck is wider while the bridge is narrowed, allowing an increase in usable area. However, this battleship still has a series of short-term irreparable weaknesses, "said Matthew Funaiole, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) of the United States.

Funaiole said that the biggest problem with Shandong is the engine system, similar to Beijing facing domestic fighter projects. Both Chinese carriers now use diesel engines to run steam turbines, and even the Type-002 currently built has no nuclear engine.

While US nuclear aircraft carriers can operate continuously at sea for months without refueling, the Shandong and Liaoning ships have too short voyage reserves, making them unable to operate independently. over a continuous week. Each ship consumes about 1,100 tons of oil / day when traveling at a speed of 37 km / h, this number will increase to 1,500 tons / day if accelerating in combat.

The Chinese navy's logistics guarantees show that Shandong needs supplies after consuming about a third of its oil. This enabled it to operate for a maximum of 6 days, after which it had to refuel at sea or dock at China or a friendly country with Beijing.

This could be a major limitation, because China has not yet built a network of allies, partners and military bases around the world like the United States. This makes Shandong ships can only operate in near-shore waters, which are not the place to promote the strengths of aircraft carriers.

In case of warfare in offshore waters, Shandong can only rely on heavy-duty logistics ship Type-903 with a displacement of 23,000 tons. Even at full load, the Type-903 was only able to supply the Chinese aircraft carrier battle group twice before returning to port.

The speed of Shandong is also limited when it can only move at a speed of no more than 40 km / h, compared to nearly 60 km / h of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in the US Navy.

The mechanism of aircraft launch is another weakness on the Shandong ship. The ship uses a jump-taking mechanism (STOBAR) similar to the Liaoning, instead of a steam catapult (CATOBAR) or more modern electromagnetic catapult like a US aircraft carrier.

The Soviet Union adopted STOBAR because its aircraft carrier was equipped with long-range anti-ship missiles and often operated in cold waters where steam catapults did not guarantee reliability. The Shandong aircraft carrier is not equipped with anti-ship missiles and is also difficult to operate at the poles, but still has to use STOBAR because it copied the design from Liaoning, which is a Soviet-made battleship.

The STOBAR mechanism significantly limits the maximum takeoff volume of an aircraft, affecting its range and weaponry, as well as the number of sorties per mission. US aircraft carriers can launch a wide range of wing aircraft with a mass of nearly 50 tons, while Liaoning and Shandong can only operate J-15 fighters, a copy of the Soviet Su-33 line, with takeoff volume should not exceed 27 tons.

"J-15 fighter jets are also not effective fighters. It is the heaviest aircraft model in the world today. J-15 and the STOBAR system force China to sacrifice nearly all of its combat capability. -15 just so they can take off at sea, "Funaiole said.

The J-15 was copied by the Aviation Industry Group of China (AVIC) from the Soviet Su-33 fighter jet, after China bought an incomplete prototype, T-10K-3, from Ukraine. 2001. The aircraft was equipped with Beijing's own electronic systems, radar, engines and weapons, but their quality was suspected from the outset.

"J-15 revealed a number of issues, of which the unstable flight control system was the main factor leading to two crashes being made public. Experts did not admit it was a design error until Cao Xianjian. , an experienced pilot, having similar problems, "an unnamed source in the Chinese navy said.

The reliability of the WS-10H engine on the J-15 has also not been proven, especially when Beijing still has difficulty creating modern jet engines. Many J-15s still have Russian-made AL-31F engines for Su-27 fighters.

Beijing also does not have a tanker, forcing some J-15s to specialize in refueling and unable to fight. This has led Chinese media to repeatedly criticize the J-15 squadron, arguing that they cannot leave too far from the aircraft carrier.

In addition to technical issues, China has not accumulated sufficient experience in operating aircraft carriers. "They are very immature in aircraft carrier operations and have never deployed this weaponry for high-intensity missions. They are not even sure about their carrier operating doctrine." , Funaiole stated the point.

Beijing has been trying to overcome this weakness by using Liaoning as a training aircraft carrier since its commissioning in 2012 and deploying it in a series of exercises in the Bohai Sea, Huanghai, China Sea. East, East Sea and Western Pacific.

"Comparing Chinese and American aircraft carriers is quite unfair because Washington has been in this game for 90 years, and Beijing has just begun to step into aircraft carrier combat operations," Funaiole said. Ninh and Shandong may not become modern fighting platforms.

"Instead, they are evidence that China is practicing manufacturing and operating aircraft carriers, preparing for the next step in its ambition to become a military superpower," the US expert said.