By Topwar
China in terms of military development fleet now overtakes all other countries, and aircraft carriers in the short term should become one of the foundations of the combat power of the PLA Navy.
The decision to build China’s own aircraft carriers was made in the early 1990s. Due to the fact that there was no experience in designing and building such ships in China, at the first stage, decommissioned aircraft-carrying cruisers pr. 1143 “Kyiv” and pr. 1143.2 “Minsk” were purchased for study in Russia.
In April 1998, the unfinished aircraft-carrying cruiser Project 1143.6 Varyag was purchased from Ukraine for $20 million. According to the official Chinese version, this ship was planned to be turned into a floating entertainment center with a casino. However, after arriving on the Chinese shores, the cruiser was placed in the dry dock of a shipbuilding company in the city of Dalian. In early 2011, it became known that China had completed the completion and modernization of the ship, and in August sea trials had already begun.
On September 25, 2012, a ceremony was held in the port of Dalian to accept the first aircraft carrier into service with the Chinese Navy. The ship was named “Liaoning” – in honor of the province in northeast China, and tail number 16.
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