"China Launches First Indigenous Aircraft Carrier" Topic

"China launched its second aircraft carrier on Wednesday — the first it has made itself from scratch, marking the latest milestone in Beijing's superpower ambitions.

The Type 001A vessel, which has yet to be named, was bedecked in red flags and coloured streamers as tugboats towed it out of a shipyard in the northern city of Dalian, in a ceremony kept secret until the last moment.

The 311m carrier, with an upward-sloping "ski jump" deck, is slightly larger than the Liaoning, China's first carrier, which was made from a former Soviet hull bought from Ukraine in 1998…"
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Amicalement
Armand

So, not really a carrier like ours?

China's working on catapult launch capability but they're not there yet. They don't have the decades-long tradition in carrier aviation like the US and they're taking baby steps. This is only their first indigenously constructed flat top applying lessons learned from the one they bought from the Ukraine, which was a former Soviet carrier with a ski ramp.

Takes a better-built aircraft to survive a catapult launch than what the Chinese have available.

Not that those big beautiful Sukhois are badly built (though the clones might be), but you need a stronger landing gear and reinforced structure in the airframe for catapult aircraft.

Yea given with what the Chinese are working with, the design does make sense.

-Will