China's first aircraft carrier enters service

The Liaoning was named after a province in north-eastern China

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19710040

The Liaoning was formally handed over to the navy at a ceremony attended by top Chinese leaders at Dalian Port, state-run Xinhua news agency said."Having the aircraft carrier enter the ranks will be of important significance in raising the overall fighting capacity of our nation's navy to a modern level," China's Defence Ministry said in a statement.The vessel will "increase [China's] capacity to defend, develop its capacity to co-operate on the high seas in dealing with non-traditional security threats and will be effective in defending the interests of state sovereignty, security and development", it added.The official commissioning of the country's first aircraft carrier signals China's status as a rising power, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing.The Chinese military confirmed in June 2011 that it was being refitted to serve as the nation's first aircraft carrier.Analysts say it will take years to outfit the carrier with aircraft and make it fully operational. But Chinese officials say that the Liaoning advances the country's military modernisation."The development of aircraft carriers is an important part of China's national defense modernization, in particular its naval forces, and this aircraft carrier is an essential stepping stone toward its own more advanced aircraft carriers in the future," China's Rear Admiral Yang Yi wrote in state-run China Daily newspaper.

The carrier will be mostly used "for scientific research and training missions" so China could build "a more advanced aircraft carrier platform in the future", he added.

 
Designation: CV
Length: 992 ft
Width: 237 ft
Beam: 116 ft                                                       More:
Displacement: 65,000 tons                   http://www.jeffhead.com/worldwideaircraftcarriers/varyag.htm 
Propulsion: 8 boilers, 4 shafts
Speed: 32 knots
Crew: 2,500
Airwing: 
- 26 Fighter/Attack (J15)
- 4 AEW Helo
- 18 other Helo
Armament:
- 4 x 18 cell FL-3000N (72 missiles)
- 3 x 30mm Type 1030 CIWS
- 2 x 240mm ASW launchers (10 barrels ea)
- 4 x Decoy/Chaff (24 barrels ea)
Elevators: 2
Ships in class: 1