James R Holmes, Top 5 Reasons Not to Ballyhoo China’s Carrier. The Diplomat, Oct 2, 2012.
http://thediplomat.com/the-naval ... hoo-chinas-carrier/
Note:
(a) For CVN, see list of aircraft carriers of the United States Navyen.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_carriers_of_the_United_States_Navy
(hull classification symbols: CV (aircraft carrier), CVA (attack aircraft carrier), CVN (aircraft carrier (nuclear propulsion); All units after CVA-58 [which was intended to be commissioned in 1949 but canceled] are supercarriers)
(b) The commentary states, "Built by the Soviet Union, it was designed to accommodate 28 fighter/attack aircraft, a fraction of the US complement."
(i) Take the following carrier as an example, which I choose because its homeport is nearest to China.
USS George Washington (CVN-73)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_George_Washington_(CVN-73)
(The super carrier can accommodate approximately 80 aircraft and has a flight deck 4.5 acres (18,000 m²) in size, using four elevators that are 3,880 ft² (360 m²) each to move planes between the flight deck and the hangar bay; the sixth ship in the Nimitz class; Commissioned 1992; In service; Homeport: Yokosuka Naval Base-Yokosuka, Japan)
(ii) complement (n):
"the quantity, number, or assortment required to make a thing complete <the usual complement of eyes and ears — Francis Parkman>; especially : the whole force or personnel of a ship"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complement |