[English]“瓦良格”战斗群

达芬奇的晚餐

In 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved, the second full-sizeaircraft carrier for the Soviet Union, the Varyag-sister ship to theKuznetsov, was under construction in the Ukraine. With the Sovietdemise, the Ukraine inherited the incomplete vessel but did not havethe finances to complete her. In 1992 a Chinese delegation visited theUkraine in the hopes of coming to terms on a purchase price of theunfinished vessel. A suitable purchase price was not agreed upon.Later, in 1998, the Chong Lot Travel Agency, a supposed Macau firm,bought the Varyag from the Ukraine for $20 million dollars with thestated intention of making the Varyag a casino for commercial profit.As it turned out, Chong Lot had no offices in Macau and was simply afront company for a Hong Kong firm called Chinluck Holding Co. Ltd. Asit also turned out, the managing directors of Chinluck, had strong tiesto the Chinese navy. It took three years for the front firm, Chong LotTravel, to get permission to tow the Varyag through the IstanbulStraits and on to China. That permission was finally granted in 2001and the following pictures document what has occurred to the Varyagsince.

TheUkrainian Carrier Varyag in Ukraine Naval Yards, approximately 70%complete, prior to being towed away by Chong Lot Travel Agency.


Overheadview of the Varyag in June 2007 in Dalian. The hull and flight deckseem complete structurally...markings and final fitting necessary yet.



AIRCRAFT
In October of 2006, the Kommersant online newspaper in Moscow announceda deal between Russia and China where the Russians would sell up to 50Su-33 fighters to China for $2.5 billion. Details seemed to indicatethat China will spend $100 million to buy two Su-33 fighters fromKomsomolsk-on-Amur Production Association for evaluation, with deliveryof those two in 2007. There appears to also be a fairly firm option for12 more Su-33 fighters, with the potential for another 36 SU-33s. Inthat event, the deal would total the $2.5 billion. The SU-33 fighter isthe navalized version of the SU-27 fighter that China has purchased inlarge numbers from the Russians and now license builds themselves. Itis the same fighter that the Russians use on their carrier, theKuznetsov, which is the older sister ship to the Varyag. In addition,over the last two years, the Chinese have been negotiating with theRussians regarding the KA-31 helicopter, which is the helicopter theRussians use on their carrier for AEW duties. The Chinese have alsointroduced designs for prop-driven AEW aircraft of their own similar tothe United States E-2 Hawkeye aircraft. The continuing efforts by thePLAN to obtain navalized, carrier fighters and AEW aircraft from Russia(or design their own), coupled with the recent completion of a non-skidsurface on the flight deck of the Varyag, and its painting in officialPLAN colors, make it abudnantly clear that this vessel, at some futuredate, will be China's first aircraft carrier.


ESCORTS
WHile all of this has been occuring,the PLAN has embarked on a phenominal naval ship building andmodernization program, simultaneously working on ten to twelve newclasses of major combatants and building several of each at one time.This program has already developed and launched all of the necessarymodern classes of guided missile destroyers, guided missile frigates,attack submarines, and supply ships to form the basis for a verypowerful carrier strike group once a carrier is available...and todefend and supply it in the blue water, as the following picturesattest.

玄勾玉

这种帖子在目前这种状况一般都被沉了...
1998年3月中旬，澳门“长乐旅游与娱乐公司”以两千万美元购入“瓦良格”航空母舰，准备将其进行改造。如今，在沉寂了三年之后，在大连港接受改建的“瓦良格”号再度成为世界关注的焦点。最新曝光的“瓦良格”航母令人惊讶地出现在大连造船厂船坞上，众所周知，如果只是一般的商业改装，基本上不用进入船坞作业，只涉及室内安装而已。图片显示“瓦良格”保养非常完好，尽管没有进行喷漆、外部设备安装，但是过去三年以来显然进行了必要的维修，这并非是商人的作为，商人必须把商品尽快投放市场，赚取回报。“瓦良格”显然得到国家的支持并且另有用途。特别是近期来自中国军方的战略评论家张召中少将公开声称“它将是中国的第一艘航母”，再度引起了广大网友的航母热潮。

特务小强

当年俄罗斯把自己的航母当废铁卖了，如今后悔已晚，希望中国珍惜