Would having more crew members be better for damage control? I would think that would probably be the only advantage.

‘Unlike yours which did a fantastic job of protecting Pearl from the Japs’

you want to believe with all your heart that I was making an anti British Navy comment, but EVERYBODY that went up against the Japanese from Dec 41 to about May 42 got their (censored) handed to them. And as much as you may not like it, IF a RN fleet carrier had accompanied Force Z, the most likely end result would have been the loss of that valuble asset in addition to the battleships/cruisers. Not neccesarily on Dec 10 but surely within a few weeks. I’m sorry, but credit where its due, the Japanese were at the top of their game while the Allies (ESPECIALY the Americans) just couldnt seem to get it together.

Was it one or two modern SSNs that couldnt fint the 25 de Mayo? (yep, I went there:diablo:)

Considering the state of FAA fighters at the time, its probably a good thing a CV wasnt there.

Any thoughts on weather the PLAN will develop catapults for their CVs?

I don’t think anyone is but it seems that a few posters believe that there are no threats to China, therefore any semblance of having a modern military let alone an aircraft carrier, is unacceptable.

In my mind China has to build ships for its own needs. And China’s military needs are descided by China. I know there is no love lost between China and Japan, and that is completely understandable. And I think, no matter how good relations between them are today, China has a certain amount of…..”distrust”….with Russia. So if China feels they need CVs…..then they should build CVs.

I think it will be quite some time befor China uses a CV to project power anywhere. Right now, they are running sea trials with the ship, basically just seeing how the sip itself operates. How long this will take I couldnt say. Once those are complete, they will begin the first real “experimental” phase of operations, having guys fly on and off it. This will take some time, a year? Two? Three? Again, I couldnt say. In the mean time, the PLAN will be figuring out just how they want to operate her and any others they may aquire. All in all, it is an exciting time for the PLAN, but I dont think the west should get hysterical just yet.

Now that a potential enemy has a carrier, New Zealand might want to think about getting some combat aircraft.

It will be interesting to see how much this changes the balance of power in the Pacific…and if/how other nations react.

I had not even considered that. Its interesting tho. Any thoughts on which type? JAS-39 would probably be pretty reasonable……