>>520911645
>China classified both of their ramp carriers as training carriers
I've never heard of this as being made an official designation. The main priority right now is of course to train crew and pilots, so they are mainly being used for this purpose, but the carriers are still fully combat capable weapon systems
>Leoning is already 15 years old. By the time they are building their 4th and 5th supercarrier, both ramp carriers will be pushing 30 years old.
Liaoning is 12 years since commissioning, Shandong is 6 years. A modern warship usually has a lifespan of about 40 years. A US carrier has a lifespan of 50 years.
How long it takes China to start construction on its 4th and 5th supercarrier depends. It is rumored that they will now have the Jiangnan and Dalian yards both build carriers simultaneously, and if so, it's likely that the modules of the 2nd and 3rd catapult carriers are already under construction, and the 4th and 5th should start construction around 2030. If you don't count the Fujian class as "supercarrier", then the 4th and 5th would start construction around 2035. By that time, Liaoning will be 22 years old and Shandong will be 16 years old, not even old enough for a mid-life refit.
>Also remember the Laoning's main hull was built in the Soviet Union.
So where the Chinese Sovremenny destroyers, and the Chinese still keep them around. They gave them an equipment refit not long ago, indicating they plan to keep them around a lot longer.
