BEIJING: The progress of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in modernizing and expanding its arsenal will continue over the upcoming year after an unsettling 2020 in which recently developed equipment played major roles in protecting Chinese people from COVID-19, safeguarding national sovereignty and development interests in regions like the China-India border, the South China Sea and the Taiwan Straits.
China’s third aircraft carrier, a newly developed frigate with integrated electric propulsion system, aircraft carrier-based stealth fighter jets and more could make their first appearances in 2021, military observers predict. With China setting the centennial goal by 2027 for its military in November, urging it to modernize military theories, organizations, personnel and weapons and equipment, analysts said there is no doubt that China will continue to develop new, world-class weapons for years to come.
The construction of China’s third aircraft carrier, which is widely expected to be larger than the country’s current two and feature a more advanced electromagnetic catapult system, has been a focus of several media outlets. Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie told the Global Times in an interview in September that the carrier could be launched in 2021.
Citing an anonymous insider, The Diplomat magazine reported on Friday that the Type 054B frigate, a newly developed warship reportedly equipped with an integrated electric propulsion system and more advanced than the Type 054A, could “see movement” in 2021.
The report also said that between 2021 to 2025, China could procure more Type 054A frigates, Type 052D destroyers, Type 055 large destroyers, Type 071 amphibious landing ships and Type 075 amphibious assault ships, with the third Type 075 expected to be launched in the last days of 2020 or early 2021 China’s new-generation fighter jet is also scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2021, according to a statement the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment released on its WeChat public account in June.
While the statement did not elaborate on the details of the new fighter jet, but based on available information, it is possible that it is a new aircraft carrier-based fighter jet developed from the FC-31, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation expert, told the Global Times.
Other aircraft, including mass-produced J-20 stealth fighter jet with domestically developed engines, could also make official public debuts in 2021, analysts predict. Military enthusiasts are also eagerly waiting to hear news about the H-20, China’s new strategic stealth bomber that has been in development for several years. Predictions on China’s new weapons and equipment development in 2021 come at the end of 2020, a year in which the tools within the PLA arsenal played key roles in protecting the Chinese people from coronavirus, deterring US provocations, safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity in the Taiwan Straits and holding off India along the border.
– The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
