How does the new Chinese aircraft carrier compare with US and Royal Navy contemporaries?
Short answerIt has promising fundamentals, but China is still using successive carriers to test technology before committing to a mature production class.
NotesChina's third carrier appears to have the basic form of a capable ship, although operational experience must still test the design and its air group. China has followed a conservative, iterative route from one carrier experiment to the next rather than rushing immediately into mass production. A later nuclear-powered carrier could provide the basis for a serial class. The successive test ships reduce risk before that larger commitment.