Chapter 948 Light aircraft carrier delivery training

Since the launch of the West-to-East Gas and West-to-East Oil Transmission Century Project, the route has now been determined.

One is the western route, which transports natural gas and oil from the five Central Asian countries to the Western Region Province through natural gas pipelines and oil pipelines, and connects to the natural gas pipeline of China's own West-to-East Gas Transmission Project and the oil pipeline of the West-to-East Oil Transmission Plant, and then transports it to various provinces and cities through natural gas pipelines and oil pipelines.

One is the northern route, which transports it from the polar bear to Heilongjiang Province, and then transports it to the south along the natural gas pipeline of the "North Gas South Transmission" project and the oil pipeline of the "North Oil South Transmission" project.

The northern route natural gas pipeline includes the Power of Siberia pipeline in the polar bear and the natural gas pipeline in China. The total length of the pipeline in the polar bear is about 3,000 kilometers, and the pipeline in China is 3,371 kilometers.

The northern route oil pipeline is the "Anda Line", which starts from the Angarsk Oilfield in Irkutsk Oblast in the west, enters Buryatia in the south, then bypasses Lake Baikal, passes through Chita Oblast in the east, and finally reaches Daqing. This project was finally completed with an investment of US$2.5 billion by China Petroleum Group.

The western route and the northern route will become important channels for China to import oil and natural gas.

This also makes the cooperation between the two sides closer, because it is complementary and win-win.

Like the five Stan countries in Central Asia, the polar bear has extremely strong influence, and this influence will last at least 20 to 30 years.

It is not a matter of one day or one night to win over the five Stan countries in Central Asia.

In March, after attending the two sessions, Liu Tao went to the Yangcheng Shipyard.

The first Type 001 light aircraft carrier will be handed over to the navy for training today, and then delivered to the Thai Navy before the Spring Festival.

The fully built Type 001 light aircraft carrier has a full load displacement of more than 20,000 tons, which is much larger than the Type 052 destroyer.

For the Type 001 light aircraft carrier, the navy prepared several years in advance.

When Liu Tao saw it, the ship was fully staffed with 1,051 people, including 685 crew members and 366 aviation personnel, equipped with 15 "Sea Eagle" carrier-based aircraft and 9 "Ray Eagle" helicopters.

The captain of this Type 001 light aircraft carrier is Zhang Zhaozhong, who was the captain of the first Type 054 frigate and later the Type 052 destroyer. He has served as the commander of the Persian Gulf escort formation and the commander of the Gulf of Aden formation, and has a very rich experience.

He is also a military theorist, and his research covers multiple disciplines such as science and technology, weapons and equipment, joint operations, military strategy, national defense construction, and international laws and regulations.

In the research on naval equipment and aircraft carriers, he is a leader in the Chinese military field.

This year, Zhang Zhaozhong is 45 years old and is in his prime.

"Leader, when can our navy use medium-sized or large aircraft carriers?" Zhang Zhaozhong took out a cigarette and handed it to Liu Tao, flattering him with expectation in his eyes.

He has always believed that for a big country like China, it is necessary to develop aircraft carriers, and at least medium-sized aircraft carriers should be developed, preferably large aircraft carriers.

After all, the combat effectiveness of an aircraft carrier is determined by its carrier-based aircraft. The more advanced the performance of the carrier-based aircraft and the more carrier-based aircraft there are, the more powerful the aircraft carrier will be.

When he was studying the development of aircraft carriers in the United States and the Soviet Union, he came to a conclusion that major powers should move towards large aircraft carriers.

When he was conducting research, he put forward a point of view that China has a long coastline and needs at least 6 aircraft carriers in the near term and at least 12 aircraft carriers in the long term to safeguard China's maritime rights and interests.

The Type 001 light aircraft carrier is of course good. After all, it is better to have an aircraft carrier than not to have one. However, the Type 001 light aircraft carrier is still too small after all. Its full load displacement is only 20,600 tons. It is only a light aircraft carrier and has only 24 carrier-based aircraft. Among them, the "Sea Eagle" carrier-based aircraft has a short range and its performance is only that of a second-generation and a half fighter.

Whether the Chinese Navy can use medium-sized or even large aircraft carriers is unrealistic to rely on other shipyards. It has to rely on the Yangcheng Shipyard.

To be precise, it has to rely on Liu Tao.

Liu Tao declined Zhang Zhaozhong's offer and smiled: "It's almost done! When this aircraft carrier is completed, we will start building a new aircraft carrier."

Zhang Zhaozhong's eyes lit up: "Leader, can you tell me in advance, is it a medium-sized aircraft carrier or a large aircraft carrier?"

Zhang Zhaozhong's eyes were full of expectations.

"We have to take it step by step. How can we go from a light aircraft carrier to a large aircraft carrier all at once?" Liu Tao smiled and said, "Type 002 aircraft carrier is a medium-sized aircraft carrier!"

Zhang Zhaozhong was not disappointed either, and smiled. A medium-sized aircraft carrier is always better than a light aircraft carrier!

This time, Liu Tao came to Yangcheng Shipyard, in addition to the fact that the first Type 001 light aircraft carrier was handed over to the navy for training, another important reason was to develop a medium-sized aircraft carrier.

This year, the defense budget exceeded 100 billion for the first time, which made the military much more relaxed than before and had greater ambitions.

There is already a light aircraft carrier, and the next step is naturally to look forward to medium-sized aircraft carriers or even large aircraft carriers.

Moreover, China's development, in order to safeguard its own rights and interests and defend against enemies thousands of miles away, does indeed require medium-sized or even large aircraft carriers.

This important task fell on Liu Tao.

Liu Tao did not oppose the construction of larger aircraft carriers, because larger aircraft carriers were indeed needed to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests.

Moreover, after accumulating experience in the construction of light aircraft carriers, China now does have the strength to build medium-sized or even large aircraft carriers.

The necessary industrial chains have been built.

The necessary technologies have actually been accumulated.

However, in order to be more stable, Liu Tao chose a medium-sized aircraft carrier instead of a large aircraft carrier.

"Work hard, I'm optimistic about you!" Liu Tao patted Zhang Zhaozhong on the shoulder.

About half an hour later, the Type 001 light aircraft carrier officially left the dock and headed for Zhanjiang Port.

At present, among the various military ports in the south, only Zhanjiang Port, the home port of the South China Sea Fleet, has a large dock for the Type 001 light aircraft carrier to dock.

Next, the Type 001 light aircraft carrier will be handed over to the South China Sea Fleet for about one year, and will be delivered to the Thai Navy around the Spring Festival. If there are special circumstances, it can be delayed until 1999.

The navy will use this light aircraft carrier for training, while the Thai Navy's carrier-based aircraft pilots will begin training on the "Test" aircraft carrier, and the crew will receive professional training in China.

At present, Thailand's military strength is quite strong, and it can be called the little overlord of the South China Sea, and its military strength is much higher than that of Annan.

At least from the data on paper, Thailand's army, navy and air force are all above Annan.

Moreover, after more than a decade of rapid development, Thailand has maintained a double-digit economic growth rate for more than 15 years, and even in some years, the economic growth has reached 20% or even 30%. It is the leader of the four Asian tigers and constantly clamors to replace South Korea as one of the four Asian dragons. It believes that South Korea is not worthy of the name of the four Asian dragons and is the shame of the four Asian dragons.

In recent years, Thailand has gradually become the leader of ASEAN under the impetus of some forces behind it, and its international status has been greatly improved compared with more than a decade ago.

Moreover, there are no US military bases in Thailand now, which greatly enhances Thailand's autonomy.

Now the only US military base in Southeast Asia is Singapore, but Singapore's development is becoming increasingly weak, and it gradually does not want to sign a military base lease treaty with the United States.