China to launch 1st aircraft carrier in 2011

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China plans to launch an aircraft carrier for training within this year after completing work to repair it which it bought from the former Soviet Union, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Tuesday.

Quoting military experts, Yomiuri said, “The Chinese Navy will begin operation of the aircraft carrier which it bought in 2002 after repair work in Dalian, northeastern China’s Liaoning Province.”

The 65,000-ton aircraft carrier is 304 meters long. Construction began in 1985, but stopped with a 70-percent completion as the Soviet Union collapsed.

If operation begins, it will be the first aircraft carrier of China which has set the goal of building “Mighty Navy,” Yomiuri said.

Military experts said that a photo taken last month shows that the aircraft carrier is topped with a three-dimension radar which did not appear in August last year, it said.

The radar is capable of not only controlling takeoff and landing of aircraft but also detecting approaching enemy planes and missiles, Yomiuri said.