The UK's The Economist reports: China's latest aircraft carrier has adopted electromagnetic catapults, and a nuclear-powered version is also under construction; however, whether the country can fully utilize these vessels remains an open question.
Foreign media are once again resorting to their old tricks.
Our Fujian-class carrier has just begun using advanced electromagnetic catapults, and work on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is proceeding rapidly. Immediately, Western media jump in to pour cold water, claiming that just because they can be built doesn’t mean they can be effectively operated—whether they’ll truly be usable is still very much up for debate.
We’re all too familiar with this routine. At first, they said China couldn’t build an aircraft carrier. Then, once we did, they claimed the technology wasn’t good enough. Now that we’ve introduced electromagnetic catapults, they sneer and imply we won’t be able to use them properly. No matter how well we perform, they always manage to find something to criticize.
In truth, their skepticism isn’t entirely surprising. After all, their own Ford-class carrier suffers from inherent engineering flaws in its electromagnetic catapult system—flaws that have plagued it despite extensive training and testing. Judging us by their own shortcomings, of course they assume we can’t succeed either.
But they’ve forgotten one crucial thing: the Chinese excel at learning through doing. Once the hardware is built, proficiency can be developed through repeated sea trials and operational integration. It may take time, but there’s no insurmountable gap.
Instead of worrying about us, perhaps the British should focus on their own aging fleet—ships that are practically rusting away. Wait until our nuclear-powered carriers actually sail deep into the open ocean, and then see if they’ll still be laughing!
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1864497714969612/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.