China's first aircraft carrier, the CNS Liaoning (CV-16), is being praised by its political commissar from the Communist Party of China (CPC) as being "constantly prepared for war" despite the carrier being ruled as only fit for training purposes by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

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In what appears to be a bout of political bravado, Li Dongyou, CPC political commissar of the Liaoning, said the Liaoning is "always prepared for war and our combat capacity also needs to be tested by war. At this moment, we are doing our best to promote our strength and use it to prevent war, and are prepared for actual combat at any time."

His excessive and probably unwarranted optimism flies in the face of past PLAN declarations the carrier is only suitable as a training vessel meant to give pilots of the PLAN Naval Air Force experience in ship-borne carrier operations and the ship's crew experience in operating an aircraft carrier under all conditions.

The 60,000 ton Liaoning remains beset by a host of problems, chief among which are its unreliable engines and underpowered aircraft-launching systems. Its engines give it a paltry top speed of only 20 knots or 37 km/h, which will be a problem when it tries to outrun or evade the faster destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy.

U.S. Navy Nimitz-class supercarriers can tear through the waves at over 30 knots or 56 km/h while its escorting Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers are just as fast.

That's not to mention the high-speed maneuvering it will have to perform to evade salvoes of U.S. anti-ship missiles and torpedoes.

"As a combat platform, regarding technology and capability to execute missions, China still lags behind the US, but three high-ranking US officials who visited the Liaoning before all gave a positive evaluation on the management affairs on the carrier: officers and soldiers' daily lives and training are well organized and the equipment maintenance is fine" said Li.

The Liaoning can embark 36 aircraft: 24 Shenyang J-15 fighters; 6 Changhe Z-18F anti-submarine warfare helicopters; 4 Changhe Z-18J airborne early warning helicopters and 2 Harbin Z-9C rescue helicopters.

TagsLiaoning, Aircraft carrier, china, Communist Party of China, Li Dongyou, U.S. Navy