Early Chinese carriers should be expected to reveal problems rather than judged as finished expressions of fleet capability. The first two ships are described as deliberate testbeds for building institutional and technical experience. The approach resembles China's iterative destroyer and frigate programs: test a design, identify what works, and then build the successful form at scale. Experience from that production run can in turn support a more capable next generation.
Notable Point · 2:47:02-2:47:38
Why early Chinese carriers should have problems
The first Chinese carriers are framed as deliberate learning platforms rather than finished expressions of fleet capability.