It took some 15-20 years for the USN to go from flying a plane off a cruiser for kicks, giggles and to see what it'll do to developing a functional aircraft carrier actually capable of delivering an air wing large enough to sink a capital ship (or more) in a single sortie.
It took the PLA/N 40 years to do the same. Of course, they went straight from theory to practice, essentially, and had to deal with greater complications in advancements in electronics and aircraft. Plus they studied the hell out of everything to make sure they more or less got it right the first time.
Posts:2129 Joined: November 8th, 2010, 3:07 pm
Location: Norseland
That carrier with J-15s/Su-33s won`t be much of a threat as those plane(s) can`t take off from the carrier with usable ammount of fuel and arnaments. But it`s useful as a training carrier and nothing more.
Praetonia well put. The current fiscal climate in DC combined with US idebtedness to China will preclude any meaningful expansion of US sea or airpower to counter Chinese expansion. It remains to be seen if the CHINESE economy would support a major expansion.