Saturday, March 16, 2013

Spotted: China's First Aircraft Carrier At Its New Homeport [Image Of The Day]

Satellite image showing the sole Aircraft Carrier China operates, a Russian-origin Kuznetsov-class vessel, recently christened Liaoning, berthed at what has been said to be its home base in China's North-East.

click on the image to view it in larger size

Chinese-Aircraft-Carrier-Liaoning-01-R

via www.digitalglobe.com

Relevant sections of an IHS Global Insight update,

"The arrival on 27 February of China's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning , at its new home port in northeastern China has confirmed previous speculation that the Kuznetsov (Orel) (Project 1143.5/6)-class vessel was part of the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN's) North Sea Fleet.

Liaoning (pennant number 16) arrived at the new base at Dazhu Shan, 50 km southwest of Qingdao, accompanied by support vessel Xi Xiake (pennant number 88), which has been its consort since 3 July 2011.

The North Sea Fleet is headquartered at Qingdao, about 50 km northeast of Dazhu Shan. Divided into nine coastal defence districts with about 325 ships deployed among two submarine flotillas, two escort groups, one mine warfare unit, one amphibious unit, and the Bohai Gulf training flotilla, it is responsible for the area from the North Korean border to Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province. It would also render critical support to the army in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula."

Godspeed

Related: China's J-20 & J-15 Fighter Aircrafts Spotted Sitting Alongside Each Other On The Tarmac [Eyeballing]