This Military Expert May Help China Even the Odds against the U.S. Navy

Robert Beckhusen

Security, Asia

Beijing is tapping foreign expertise.

The name Valery Vasilevich Babich is an important one in the world of aircraft carrier construction.

A 76-year-old Ukrainian shipbuilder and journalist, Babich was instrumental in the construction of the Soviet Union’s aircraft carriers including the Admiral Kuznetsov, the Admiral Gorshkov-turned-Vikramaditya now in Indian service, and the Varyag which is now the Chinese carrier Liaoning.

Having once headed the Black Sea Shipyard’s Design Bureau, Babich knows a thing or two about carriers. He also hasn’t stopped, according to Chinese media reports stating that Babich has gone to work for the Qingdao-based CUSA company, formally the Qingdao China-Ukraine Special Ships Research and Design Academy. Qingdao is Liaoning’s home port.

Liaoning and the Type 001A, China’s second carrier, are by themselves just floating hunk of metal with a flight deck on top. What makes a carrier into a capable warship are the sailors, pilots, doctrines, procedures and expertise in shipbuilding that takes decades to develop. Babich’s brain is thus a reservoir of knowledge for China to tap as it seeks to develop the institutional experience needed for a modern, blue-water carrier fleet.

CUSA does not involve Russia. It’s a joint venture with Ukraine’s state-owned shipyard at Mykolaiv, the birthplace of the Soviet Union’s carrier fleet. The carrier Kuznetsov is one of three survivors of the Soviet era and the only flattop in Russian service.

Ukraine inherited Varyag/Liaoning following the USSR’s collapse and sold her to China, which retrofitted her into a training ship.

The Type 001A, which is based closely on the Kuznetsov-class design, is China’s first domestically-built carrier and launched on April 26, 2017. China’s version of the class has a greater carrying capacity for aircraft, ammunition and fuel — and carries more advanced radars.