Aircraft
Fighter Quandary Bugs New Chinese Carriers
China needs a new carrier-capable fighter but is unlikely to be able to develop a viable one any time soon.

In November 2017, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and several PRC defense industry officials made a number of claims about the next-generation of Beijing’s aircraft carriers. Currently, the PLAN operates one carrier, the CV-16 Liaoning, which was originally acquired in a partially completed state from Ukraine’s Nikolayev Shipyards.

Originally named the Varyag, this vessel had originally been built as a sister ship to the Russian Navy’s (VMF) single carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov. The Ukrainian-built ship could not move under its own power, so it was towed halfway around the world before undergoing years of re-fitting and the installation of a new propulsion system at the Dalian shipyards in Liaoning Province.