While Russian Defense Minister A. Serdyukov says that we have no plans to build aircraft carriers even in the long term, Beijing, Delhi and Tokyo think differently. The Celestial Empire is completing its first "training" aircraft carrier from the former Soviet "Varyag", with plans to build two more completely of its own buildings. India is expecting an aircraft carrier from Russia in the near future, and plans to build two more at its shipyards. Japan is not officially building aircraft carriers - a series of ships of the 16DDH project, helicopter destroyers, is being built. But if necessary, they can also carry short take-off and landing combat aircraft such as the American F-35.
The Asia-Pacific Region (APR) is once again becoming the arena of an arms race, including maritime ones, becoming one of the possible fronts of a new world war. The history of confrontation in this region of the planet in the 20th century is rich in events. In the late XIX - early XX centuries. there the interests of several great powers clashed at once: the British, which with the hands of the Japanese Empire wanted to stop the expansion of Russia, they were supported by the United States; Russia was pushed east by the Second Reich. Visiting the Kronstadt base of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Empire in May 1902, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II made it clear that while Russia was advancing in the east, Germany would guarantee the security of Russia's western borders. Thus, the yacht of the German Emperor Wilhelm "Hohenzollern" leaving Kronstadt raised the signal: "The Admiral of the Atlantic Ocean welcomes the Admiral of the Pacific Ocean."
The plans of the Russian and German empires then failed to come true - Russia was defeated in the Russian-Japanese war of 1900-1905 (although the defeat was more of a political nature than a military one), its Pacific Fleet was destroyed, Russia's expansion to the east was stopped. Berlin will also suffer a heavy defeat in the First World War without becoming "Admiral of the Atlantic Ocean."
The Japanese Empire takes the first positions - it defeated China, the Russian Empire, seized the Far Eastern possessions of Germany during the First World War. Moreover, London and the United States, which actually launched the "Great Japan" project, are losing their influence on their eastern ally. Tokyo's plans to build a "Great East Asian Sphere of Mutual Prosperity" envisaged ousting all European powers from their possessions in the west of the Asia-Pacific region and blocking the States in its eastern part. But the Japanese Empire, in spite of the initial successes, could not alone withstand the burden of the struggle against the Anglo-Saxon powers, which had a complete advantage in all spheres - economic, military, technological. Therefore, when Berlin fell, the Japanese Empire had no chance to withstand the United States and the USSR.
Western civilization retained its positions in the region, but now, instead of Great Britain, the United States began to dominate, and other European powers quickly lost their positions - the process of decolonization began. Instead of direct colonization, the United States began to use other methods - the so-called. of a neo-colonial nature, control over the countries that gained freedom went through the complex mechanisms of the world financial system, trade and politics, combined with military and ideological influence.
The era of the socialist system
The main rival of the West, as before, was Russia, represented by the Soviet Union, which regained its position after the defeat of Japan and the victory of the Communists in China. The USSR, together with China, were able to preserve the communist regime in Pyongyang, inflicting a serious defeat on the United States and the West. China then could not be an independent force, so it could not capture Taiwan, where the Kuomintang was entrenched, for this a strong fleet was needed.
The USSR and the Celestial Empire were not allies for long, Khrushchev managed to lose his "younger brother" when in 1956 he staged a performance with "debunking the personality cult" of Stalin. After Stalin's death, our positions in the APR were weakened - Port Arthur was given to China (1954-1955), although according to the Soviet-Chinese agreement of August 14, 1945, the Port Arthur area was transferred to the Celestial Empire to the Soviet Union for a period of 30 years as a military naval base; Khrushchev brewed "Kuril porridge", promising to give up the islands of Habomai and Shikotan.
As a result, the Asia-Pacific region became a zone of competition between the USSR, the USA and China. Moreover, if initially China's positions were very weak and actually limited by their territorial waters, then gradually Beijing strengthened its capabilities. The Celestial Empire actively influenced neighboring countries both through the pro-Chinese communist organizations that were created from Central Asia to Latin America, and through the numerous Chinese communities that took root in many countries and, unlike the Russian emigration, the Chinese diasporas did not break ties with their homeland. It is clear that the PRC could not yet challenge the United States in the ocean, independently determine the course of processes in the APR, for this it was necessary to qualitatively modernize the military-industrial complex, science and education, the army and the navy.
Late 20th early 21st centuries
The situation changed after the collapse of the USSR: Beijing was able to pay more attention to the development of the Air Force and the Navy, instead of the ground forces, no longer fearing a blow from the Soviet military machine from the north. In addition, the Chinese gained unique access to use the Soviet military-technical heritage, including in the naval sphere. This made it possible to drastically reduce the technological gap between the West and the PRC. So, thanks to Russian-built diesel submarines and destroyers, and also thanks to the implementation of its own new programs, modified using Russian equipment, the Chinese Navy can now operate at a considerable distance from the Chinese coast. At the same time, the PRC came close to the possession of aircraft carriers. According to military experts, already in this decade, the Celestial Empire will receive two aircraft carriers of its own construction, plus the almost finished Shi Lan (the former Soviet Varyag). And they named it very symbolically, in the East the language of symbolism is very important, in honor of the Chinese admiral who seized Taiwan at one time.
All this did not pass by the elites of neighboring countries - in fact, all the states of the Asia-Pacific region have been conducting an arms race for more than one year, even poor countries such as the Philippines. In fact, the restoration of the sea power of Japan is underway, and there is no doubt that the Japanese have not forgotten anything and have not forgiven anyone, this people knows how to preserve traditions.
But China's main competitor in the Asia-Pacific region is the United States. Moreover, Beijing faced the same problem as the Third Reich at one time - the possibility of the United States, with the help of its allies, or states hostile to the PRC (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam - the "first line of defense" of the States) to block the naval forces of China … Plus the vulnerability of sea communications, through which the bulk of the resources necessary for the life of the country's economy goes. At present, the US Navy is much stronger and more technologically advanced than the Chinese Navy, and without superiority in naval weapons, one cannot claim dominance in the Asia-Pacific region. Thus, the US Navy has 11 aircraft carriers and another aircraft carrier in reserve. The Pentagon is not going to reduce the number of aircraft carriers in the next 20 years, although in the event of a further economic crisis, it is possible to reduce the number of ships on alert to 9-10, and there will be 1-2 aircraft carriers in reserve. Three Chinese aircraft carriers, including the training Shi Lan, will not be able to withstand such power. In addition, the United States is actively helping to strengthen the armed forces, including the Navy, to its allies in the Asia-Pacific region.
South Korean helicopter carrier Dokdo (Dokdo). The architecture of the new ship has all the characteristic features of a light aircraft carrier. The Dokdo air wing includes 15 helicopters. Meanwhile, if there is a political decision, it is not excluded that the AV-8 "Harrier" vertical take-off and landing aircraft will be deployed on the ship, which will actually turn the helicopter carrier into a light aircraft carrier. Therefore, it makes sense to consider South Korea as the closest candidate for joining the elite "aircraft carrier club".
But the problem for the United States is that if the PRC can quickly concentrate its forces in one striking fist, then the United States needs to scatter its forces across the entire World Ocean, to be strong in all key regions of the planet. In the Asia-Pacific region, the US fleet can simultaneously hold more than 4-5 aircraft carriers (during a period of particular tension), with 1-2 ships usually undergoing scheduled repairs, or preparing for a campaign. The rest of the aircraft carriers are on duty in the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Indian Ocean. Therefore, while building up forces in any region, forces are weakened in other strategic directions. So, at present, the United States has raised the issue of disbanding the US Navy's 2nd Operational Fleet, whose area of responsibility includes the North Atlantic and the Western Arctic. It can be reduced to a nominal structure, which will include mainly training and support units with a minimum of warships. The main forces will be transferred to other operational fleets of the United States, for example: the 5th in the Indian Ocean and the 7th in the Pacific Ocean. If this happens, Beijing will get a stronger US group at its borders.
American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the sixth Nimitz-class ship. Named after the first President of the United States, George Washington.
Moreover, Russia is not considered in China as the main competitor in the Asia-Pacific region. For example, Rear Admiral Yin Cho, who gave an interview to the Chinese media, advised Russia to focus on the Arctic. After analyzing the message of USC President Roman Trotsenko about the possibility of building new aircraft carriers in Russia, he came to the conclusion that the Russian Federation could build an aircraft carrier, but this requires solving some engineering problems to adapt the ship for use in the Arctic Ocean. At the same time, the Chinese admiral noted that the only aircraft carrier of the Russian Navy, "Admiral Kuznetsov," will not be able to provide a high intensity of hostilities in the Arctic, and this is very dangerous for the national security of the Russian Federation. Beijing does not need a war "on two fronts" - there are enough problems on the eastern, southeastern and western borders (confrontation with India). For Beijing, the scenario of confrontation between the West and Russia in the Arctic zone is more advantageous, fortunately, an Arctic "mini-NATO" is already being created in the West, and Russia has announced the creation of two "Arctic brigades."
In fact, the scenario of the early 20th century is being repeated - then Germany and Russia could challenge the Anglo-Saxon world, but in the end they were forced to fight with each other, and all plans to dominate the planet collapsed. Currently, Beijing is not averse to using Russia to divert the forces of the United States and the Western world to the North. Thus, having received the opportunity for further expansion, to solve a number of issues in the APR, including the problem of Taiwan, without the intervention of the West, the United States.
For Russia, the northern strategic direction is really vital; after the collapse of the USSR, we lost many positions in the North. It is necessary to strengthen the Northern Fleet, create mobile units ready to operate in the Far North, and implement programs for the development of the northern regions. But we must not forget about the Asia-Pacific region: for example, Japan constantly presents us with territorial claims (given the growth of its navy, this is a real threat to our territorial integrity); the situation on the Korean Peninsula is unstable; the power of the USA has not disappeared; The PRC is strengthening its strength. Therefore, the modernization of the military infrastructure in the Far East is also vital. Considering these factors, Russia should also have plans to create about 3 aircraft carrier strike groups, plus there should be 1 aircraft carrier in reserve. This will allow us to guarantee our, Russian interests in the Pacific and Arctic oceans.
The first post-war Japanese aircraft carrier Hyuga
