NEW DELHI – In a bid to make proverbial waves in international waters,China has plans of having six aircraft carriers – four of them with nuclearcapabilities – by 2035 in a bid to challenge US Navy.
According to a report in South China Morning Post, China – already on thefast track towards modernising its military – has set an ambitious goal toput its naval fleet at par with that of the US. The People’s LiberationArmy (PLA) Navy is being ramped up and the addition of more aircraftcarriers is being seen by Beijing as a logical step in keeping theAmericans at bay.
The country currently has one aircraft carrier while it commissionedanother in April of 2017. With a volatile South China Sea where severalcountries have challenged China’s claims over a number of islands, Beijingmay deploy a number of these planned aircraft carriers here.
“China’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers with [EMALS-like systems] areexpected to join the navy by 2035, bringing the total number of carriers toat least six – although only four will work at the front line,” WangYunfei, a naval expert, was quoted as saying in the report.
China has maintained that the urgent pace of modernising its navy stemsfrom the need to secure its trade routes and maintain peace ininternational waters.
It further claims that its military is devoted to peace and that its navalfleet in international waters is for patrolling purposes. Several countries- including the US and Japan – are, however, not buying the Chineseexplanation and see the country as adopting an aggressive posture.
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Military and economic experts – both in China and elsewhere – believeBeijing is likely to maintain its expenditure on modernising its militaryand that the country’s navy may well expect big gains. This despite aneconomic slowdown that China currently faces.
“Even if the economic downturn has an effect, we can adjust proportions intotal military expenditure to make sure naval modernisation keeps going,”Wang said, adding that in case of a war or war-like situation, it is likelythat funding for infrastructure projects are cut rather than cuts inmilitary expenditure.
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