紧张的中美贸易战给中国最新的航空母舰的预算造成了削减 [联合国媒体]

Work on China’s newest aircraft carrier has slowed as tensions with the United States and military reform have taken their toll on the programme’s budget, military sources said.

据军方内部人员透露，由于与美国贸易战的紧张局势和军事改革已对航空母舰项目造成了巨大影响，建造中国最新航空母舰的工作进度已经延缓。



The assessment came just a day after Beijing confirmed it was building its second home-grown aircraft carrier – its third in total.

就在评估的前一天，北京政府证实国家正在建造第二艘国产航空母舰---这也是我国总的航空母舰的第三艘。

State-run Xinhua news agency said on its microblog on Sunday that work was under way on China’s “new generation carrier”, the Type 002. Its predecessor, the Type 001A, the first domestically built vessel of its kind, was launched in April 2017. Military experts expect it will be handed over to the Chinese navy by October 1 in time for the 70th anniversary of the people’s republic.

新华社周日在其微博上表示，中国新一代002型航空母舰的研制工作正在进行中。在它之前，001A型航母是第一艘国内制造的航空母舰，于2017年4月份下水。军事专家预计，这艘航空母舰将于明年10月1日前完工并移交给中国海军以迎接中华人民共和国成立70周年。

China’s first aircraft carrier, the Kuznetsov-class Liaoning, was commissioned in 2012 after it was bought from Ukraine and refitted in China.

中国第一艘航空母舰“辽宁号”于2012年在乌克兰购买并在中国改装后投入使用。

The Xinhua report was the first official Chinese media confirmation of the Type 002’s construction, a disclosure that means the vessel’s keel is ready to be laid, according to a source close to the Chinese military.

据一位军方知情人士透露，新华社的报道是中国媒体首次正式确认中国将建造002型航空母舰，这意味着该航空母舰的整体架构已经准备好了。

The newest warship will be fitted with the world’s most advanced aircraft launch system, an electromagnetic system known as EMALs, which is the same type used on the nuclear-powered USS Gerald Ford supercarrier. EMALs causes less wear and tear on planes and allows more aircraft to be launched in a shorter time.

这艘最新的战舰将配备全球最先进的飞机发射系统，一种名为EMALs的电磁系统。这种电磁系统与美国航空母舰Gerald Ford号上使用的电磁系统相同。EMALs可以减少飞机的磨损，能在更短的时间内发射更多的飞机。

Military insiders said work on the Type 002 had slowed because of budget cuts and the rising costs associated with the J-15, the beleaguered carrier-based fighter jet.

军方内部人士称，002型的研制工作已经放缓，主要原因是预算的削减以及J-15战斗机成本的上升。J-15是当航母受到围攻时使用的一款从航母上起飞的战斗机。

“China has so far still failed to develop a more advanced and powerful carrier-based fighter jet to match the Type 002 carrier,” a naval source said.

“迄今为止，中国还没有研制出更先进、更强大的船载战斗机来匹配002型航空母舰”一位海军战士说。

The South China Morning Post reported earlier that several sources said Beijing was developing a new carrier-based fighter jet to replace the J-15, which has had a series of mechanical failures and crashes. All of the J-15s were grounded for three months after a fatal crash in 2016. A military investigation revealed that some data relating to the flight control system had been doctored.

华南晨报早些时候报道称，据可靠消息，北京那边正在研制一种新型的船载战斗机，以取代J-15。J-15战斗机曾发生过一些列的机械故障和坠机事故。在2016年发生致命坠机事故后，所有J-15战斗机被停飞3个月。一些军事调查显示，飞机坠机的主要原因是因为一些与飞机控制系统有关的数据被篡改了。

“Another problem that slowed down construction of the Type 002 is the long-standing short lifespans of the J-15s’ engines, even though the aircraft are now equipped with the more advanced and powerful WS-10H Taihang engines,” an insider on the carrier projects said.

研制航母的内部人士说，导致研制002型航母项目进度变缓的另一个原因是，J-15的发动机一直存在使用寿命短的问题，尽管现在飞机配置了更先进更强大的WS-10H Taihang号发动机。



New turbine technology had extended the lifespan of the WS-10 engines from 800 flight hours to 1,500, but that was still just a fraction of the more than 4,000 flight hours that General Electric’s F414 engines – used on the US’ carrier-based F-18 Super Hornets – could put in.

新的涡轮技术已经使WS-10发动机的使用寿命从飞行800个小时延长到飞行1500个小时。但这远远落后于F414通用电气发动机，这款发动机能使飞机飞行超4000个小时---此款发动机用于美国航母船载F-18大黄蜂战斗机

“The WS-10H is powerful and advanced, but its lifespan is much shorter than the American technology, meaning China needs more engines to support the operation of its J-15s. That’s costly because each WS-10 engine costs millions of yuan,” the insider said.

内部人士说。WS-10H发动机是很强大，技术也很先进，但它的使用寿命比美国生产的发动机寿命短得多，这意味着使用J-15战斗机需要消耗大量的发动机，这花费巨大，因为每个WS-10H发动机价格都要数百万元。

China plans to have four aircraft carrier battle groups in service by 2030, but those plans could change as budgets shrank and some departments were cut as a result of an unprecedented military overhaul, the insider said. Other political and economic factors were weighing on the programme, too.

“中国计划到2030年要拥有4个航空母舰战斗群，因为一场前所未有的军事改革导致的某些部门经费预算被缩减，这些计划可能会发生改变。”该知情人士说。其他政治和经济因素也同样影响到该计划。

“A shipbuilder had been scheduled to build another Type 002 carrier, the country’s fourth, in recent days but it was postponed ... amid the ongoing trade war with the US,” he said. “Beijing doesn’t want to upset Washington further – the economy has already slowed since the two countries started their trade disputes.”

“最近中国已经计划建造另一艘002型航空母舰，这将是中国第四艘航空母舰，但这个计划已经被搁置...在持续的中美贸易战中。”该知情人士表示。“中国并不想再激怒美国”---自两国开始贸易战以来，中国的经济增长已经很缓慢了。

The naval source said China was also well aware there was still a huge gap between the People’s Liberation Army Navy and its American counterpart, which has 11 aircraft carrier battle groups, eight of which can be ready for combat at any one time.

这位海军知情人士说中国也意识到跟美国相比，中国海军和美国海军存在巨大的差距。美国海军拥有11个航母战斗群，其中8个可以随时投入战斗。