World Is This China’s Secret Weapon?
- Posted on December 14, 2011 at 9:09pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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DENVER (The Blaze/AP) — A commercial U.S. satellite company said it has captured a photo of China’s first aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea off the Chinese coast.
DigitalGlobe Inc. said Wednesday one of its satellites photographed the carrier on Dec. 8. A DigitalGlobe analyst found the image on Tuesday while searching through photos.
Stephen Wood, director of DigitalGlobe’s analysis center, said he’s confident the ship is the Chinese carrier because of the location and date of the photo. The carrier was on its second round of sea trials at the time.
A Pentagon spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
DigitalGlobe, based in Longmont, Colo., sells satellite imagery and analysis to clients that include the U.S. military, emergency response agencies and private companies. DigitalGlobe has three orbiting satellites and a fourth is under construction.
The aircraft carrier has generated intense international interest because of what it might portend about China’s intentions as a military power.
The former Soviet Union started building the carrier, which it called the Varyag, but never finished it. When the Soviet Union collapsed, it ended up in the hands of Ukraine, a former Soviet republic.
China bought the ship from Ukraine in 1998 and spent years refurbishing it. It had no engines, weaponry or navigation systems when China acquired it.
China has said the carrier is intended for research and training, which has led to speculation that it plans to build future copies.
Beijing is believed to be years away from being able to launch and recover aircraft from it as part of a carrier battle group.
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Comments (234)
P3ngnr
Posted on December 21, 2011 at 3:38pmThat’s not the only surprise they’ve been keeping.
They have two more
The Minsk and the Kiev.
Here is a pick of the Kiev in process of getting fitted with new VSTOL Aircraft
http://maps.google.com/maps?
hl=en&t=k&q=China&ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=22.553866,114.236993&spn=0.004379,0.007499&om=1
The Chinese are training their aircrews in Brazil for Carrier Ops
Folks we are looking at the of three Chinese blue water Carrier Groups
I predict we will be seeing a US Chinese Carrier standoff over Taiwan in the near future.
They may not want to pass up the opportunity of doing it while there is a weak president on the oval office
Report Post »And YES I am retired Navy with an Intel background and I know what I’m talking about
sabaii
Posted on December 18, 2011 at 11:11amThe Ruskies gave that rusty pig boat to the Chinese as a joke. Just to see if they could keep it floating. More leaks in that thing than the Pentagon and the CIA combined.
Report Post »GeoInSD
Posted on December 18, 2011 at 1:09amI don’t think the point is whether or not China can duke it out with the USA. China clearly cannot win against the USA militarily, not today, not decades from now. China knows this. The point of the Chinese military build up is to put pressure on the US and unbalance the USA a bit, not just in Americans’ eyes, but in the eyes of other countries. This build up is to increase China’s international influence, not battle the USA. This is what the game is.
Report Post »BigMG
Posted on December 17, 2011 at 8:16amAll this hand-wringing over a retrofitted scrap of 1980′s era Soviet engineering? Those Soviet clowns couldn‘t even properly build things they’d been stealing from us since the 1920′s. That so-called ‘stealth’ plane they rolled out looked more like an anvil with an engine. They can steal our technology, but they can’t steal our innovation. That has to be done from within. And, it is.
Report Post »China is just getting ready to pick up the pieces after we self destruct. Diversion will be their best weapon.
The only problem is that China is self destructing also. Whole ‘planned communist paradise cities’ are uninhabited. Tens of thousands workers lie dead, mostly buried alive, in China’s proletariat dream. Close to 200,000 protests in less than a decade; where workers would rather face the end of a gun than work in these hell holes.
Let‘s not forget that China’s hell hole work environment is courtesy of United States Unions, who have forced labor overseas for the sake of their own power. We share in the blood shed for global Communism. But, through our dept, we in a sense own them.
So, when we get upset over a 40yr. old scrap heap retrofitted by a nation of slaves, remember: IT IS A DIVERSION.
WalterShumatelives
Posted on December 17, 2011 at 3:01amThe RAND corporation’s, Entering the Dragon’s lair: Chinese Antiaccess strategies. All American’s should read about it.
Report Post »call me roy
Posted on December 16, 2011 at 3:32pmThere are basically two words which command the attention of all you pilgrims arguing over which country in this world holds the military might.
Report Post »Nuclear submarines.
Discussion solved.