Shipbuilder ready to build more aircraft carriers
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E-mail China Daily, November 20, 2012
Hu Wenming, a congress delegate, took the helm of the world's second-largest shipbuilder in July. Hyundai Heavy Industries is the world's largest shipbuilder. He said his company had the responsibility and the capability to provide modern weaponry and equipment to the navy.
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China's first aircraft carrier "Liaoning" finishes the maiden voyage after its commission to navy, and goes back to the port of Dalian, Northeast China, on Nov. 30, 2012. [people.com.cn] |
The 55-year-old declined to say when and how many carriers his company will build. "That hinges on the central authorities," he said.
But he suggested the country develop carriers using what he called catapult stroke technology on the flight deck. Planes on the Liaoning utilize a ski-jump takeoff, according to earlier reports by the Liberation Army Daily.
"It is very difficult for fixed-wing Air Early Warning aircraft to use a ski-jump takeoff, and on such a carrier you can only use helicopters for early warning, which actually compromises early warning," he said.
The Liaoning is more than 300 meters long and over 70 meters wide. Flight coordination at sea obviously differs fundamentally from land-based runways, Hu said.
He declined to say how many people were involved in the project to equip the carrier, but said a whole research and development institute under his company was engaged in it, and its workforce had doubled in the process.
It took about six years for researchers to develop and install sophisticated technology and key infrastructure needed for the flight deck, such as those to command the launch and recovery operations of carrier-borne aircraft, he added.
Both the software and hardware the company provided have passed simulation tests, and Hu said he is confident they will work in tandem with the aircraft and the carrier.
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