After the photo fiasco of the U.S. Navy captain stilting his feet and watching the Liaoning from afar, a photo has been circulated on military websites that refers to the Liaoning staying in place for nearly a day off the eastern part of Hainan Island. Military experts are debating whether it was a mechanical failure? Or did the Liaoning turn off its transponder? Or is it a fake photo spread on the Internet to confuse the public? The Chinese side has not been seen to have a relevant statement.
Recently, satellite photos were circulated on the Internet, indicating that on April 12, the Liaoning and other Chinese ships stayed in place for a whole day in the sea off Hainan Island, about 290 kilometers from the port of Sanya, sparking heated debate. After the controversy over the photo of the Liaoning, the captain of the U.S. naval ship stretched his feet and watched from afar, a political program in Taiwan used the question “Is the range inferior to that of the U.S. military? The Liaoning is stuck off Hainan Island in the East? A political program in Taiwan commented on the issue with the title “The Liaoning is stuck off Hainan Island.
Is there a malfunction or is there another mission?
Taiwan military expert Wu Mingjie pointed out in the program that the Liaoning has been launched for more than thirty years and its important power source relies on the ship’s about eight old steam boilers burning heavy oil, according to the Chinese side, they claim to start the voyage for at least ten hours to warm up the machine.
Asia-Pacific defense magazine editor-in-chief Zheng Jiwen interviewed by Radio Free Asia analysis, is it a mechanical failure, or a fixed stop, or take a low-speed forward? These are all speculations at the moment and there is no evidence to support them.
Zheng Jiwen said, “Although unusual, the follow-up does not seem to prove that the mainland has sent tug barges or related auxiliary ships to go with the operation, so although it is widely believed that some kind of malfunction is the reason for its berthing, there is no clearer message to support this claim.”
The U.S. Army released a photo of the captain of the USS Muscatine, a SHIELD destroyer, looking at the Chinese Liaoning from afar on April 4, 2021. (USN.com)
Zheng Jiwen said that if there is a simple failure, the ship can sail at low speed once it is removed. If further repairs are needed, the carrier can be docked in Sanya harbor. If there is no effect and the activity is free, then there could be other reasons for this short berthing, which so far is still unknown.
Liaoning once bought back by Chinese businessman for scrap metal
Zheng Jiwen said that the Liaoning has a displacement of about 70,000 tons, and before the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the hull was eighty percent complete and could not be finished due to lack of follow-up funds. The ship was then bought by mainland businessmen and shipped back to China for renovation as a maritime casino. The ship’s size, layout, hangars, weapons, radar and electronic systems are all greatly optimized, and the capacity of the aircraft carried is also much larger.
The military builder’s day shows a dual aircraft carrier muscle show?
Zheng Jiwen mentioned that it is important to pay attention to the future movements of the Liaoning. Will it be in maritime formation with the Shandong ship moored in Sanya harbor for joint maritime training missions? In this case, it is the first time that there is such a posture of dual aircraft carrier structure, which is a very important milestone for the development of the Chinese Communist Navy. In particular, April 23 is the anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Navy. Will the Chinese Communist Party use this occasion to demonstrate the combat capability of the dual carriers and include the Type 075 amphibious assault ship to create a common momentum? This is a situation worthy of concern and attention in the coming days.
It seems that no supply ship was seen close to support
In response to the rumor that the Liaoning stayed at sea for a day, Taiwan military commentator Leyi Qi said in an interview with Radio Free Asia that it would be embarrassing if the ship was mechanically blocked, and that there should be a 9-0-1, commonly known as the “Big Nurse”, a 40,000-ton supply ship to deal with it immediately. Is it really so long to stop? Doubtful, as of now the message is not complete, did not get confirmed.
The Liaoning ship is not the only one to be looked at, according to Qi Leyi. There are six ships in this formation and five other surface ships, which should be observed according to the relative position of the other ships next to him.
I have seen satellite images, it seems that there is a zero five two D in the south of him, about a distance of more than a hundred kilometers, if this photo is true, is it zero five two D this formation is testing his area air defense maximum effective range in that? But the problem is that even if this action is done, it should be done in action, not at a fixed point.”
The Liaoning was originally the “Varyag”, which was to be a maritime casino, but was later refurbished into an aircraft carrier, a medium-sized carrier, traditionally powered, not nuclear powered, and was originally positioned as a test ship and training ship.
The most important thing that you can do is to make sure that you have a good idea of what you are doing.
The cover-up? Fake message?
Taiwan military experts Global Defense Magazine interview director Chen Guoming pointed out in an interview with Radio Free Asia that the ship would have been able to cruise back and forth in square coordinates on the vast ocean. It is flawed to use the civilian ship AIS positioning automatic return system, or other airborne wireless flight broadcasting system to determine where hostile ships and aircraft are, because there is a possibility of deception. For example, military aircraft aircraft and ships sometimes turn off their transponders when they do not interfere with flight and navigation safety, like U.S. military aircraft flying off the coast of China may turn off their transponders, which is something countries often do.
In addition, Chen Guoming said, China’s cyber army can also use fake messages to disseminate to hostile countries for confusion, cognitive warfare. China has the ability to hack into civilian AIS systems and then release the information to mislead the public, which involves information warfare.
Chen Guoming said that the Liaoning is not strong enough to search for information, and even when it does, it usually gives this task to other surface ships. The ship is expected to return to its home port at the end of April for other related training.
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