Page 20 - ADT JULY - AUGUST 2022 Online Magazine

Aircraft carriers are operated by only eight [ MARITIME ]
countries, led by the USA which has 11 in
service. The UK also operates two Queen
Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, which were
Airfields on built at a cost of $7.6 billion, while France and
the Ocean China already has two aircraft carriers in ser-
India operate a single aircraft carrier each.

vice and is now building a third and plans to
have a total of six in service. In May, the PLA
Navy reportedly sent its most powerful bomb-
ers to join the Liaoning aircraft carrier group,
for drills in the West Pacific. The H-6J bomb-
AIRCRAFT CARRIERS COULD PROVIDE THE VITAL ers are the latest upgraded variant and carry
EDGE IN FUTURE CONFLICTS two YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missiles each.
H-6 strategic bombers along with Su-30MKK
fighter jets and JH-7 fighter bombers make up
Atul Chandra China's long-range anti-ship attack fleet.

Aircraft carriers remain a vital symbol of military might despite their “PROJECTING AND ADAPTING TO
enormous cost of acquisition and upkeep, over many decades of THE STRATEGIC CONTEXT IS THE
service. With rising global tensions, the utility of aircraft carriers has RAISON D’ÊTRE OF THE AIRCRAFT
again come into sharp focus for their ability to defend naval forces
against airborne attacks and deliver punishing attacks against CARRIER,” CAPTAIN SÉBASTIEN
targets on land and sea. Essentially a moving airfield, an aircraft MARTINOT COMMANDER OF THE
carrier can move large distances (approximately 1000 km per day) AIRCRAFT CARRIER CHARLES DE
for months on end. This means they can rapidly deploy a prodigious GAULLE
amount of air power on a target 1000s of km away in short order.

According to Captain Sébastien Martinot Commander of the
French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, “Projecting and adapting China on the Move
to the strategic context is the raison d’être of the aircraft carrier.” China is rapidly growing its aircraft carrier
The Charles de Gaulle was at sea when the Russian invasion of fleet and announced the launch of its third in
Ukraine took place which resulted in the French Navy reorientating June. The new carrier named Fujian (Hull 18),
their mission. The aircraft carrier was repositioned in the central was launched in Shanghai and according to
Mediterranean to join NATO's enhanced vigilance system, less Chinese media outlet, Global Times, will have
than 72 hours after receiving the order. Most modern aircraft car- a displacement of more than 80,000 tonne and
riers would also carry sufficient ammunition and fuel to undertake will be fitted with electromagnetic catapults.
intensive air operations for two weeks or more. 2022 also marks the 73rd anniversary of the

20 | July/August 2022 WWW .GBP .COM.SG/ ADT