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    APNewsBreak: Satellite gets pic of Chinese carrier

    DENVER (AP) — A commercial U.S. satellite company said it has captured a photo of China's first aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea off the Chinese coast.

    DigitalGlobe Inc. said Wednesday one of its satellites photographed the carrier Dec. 8. A DigitalGlobe analyst found the image Tuesday while searching through photos.

    Stephen Wood, director of DigitalGlobe's analysis center, said he's confident the ship is the Chinese carrier because of the location and date of the photo. The carrier was on a sea trial at the time.

    DigitalGlobe, based in Longmont, Colo., sells satellite imagery and analysis to clients that include the U.S. military, emergency response agencies and private companies. DigitalGlobe has three orbiting satellites and a fourth is under construction.

    The aircraft carrier has generated intense international interest because of what it might portend about China's intentions as a military power.

    The former Soviet Union started building the carrier, which it called the Varyag, but never finished it. When the Soviet Union collapsed, it ended up in the hands of Ukraine, a former Soviet republic.

    China bought the ship from Ukraine in 1998 and spent years refurbishing it. It had no engines, weaponry or navigation systems when China acquired it.

    China has said the carrier is intended for research and training, which has led to speculation that it plans to build future copies.

    China initially said little about its plans for the carrier but has been more open in recent years, said Bonnie S. Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

    "It wasn't until the Chinese actually announced they were sending it out on a trial run they admitted, 'Yes, we are actually launching a carrier,'" she said.

    China publicly announced two sea trials for the carrier that occurred this year, she said.

    The carrier's progress is in line with the U.S. military's expectations, said Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde, a Defense Department spokeswoman.

    A Defense Department report to Congress this year said the carrier could become operationally available to the Chinese navy by the end of next year but without aircraft.

    "From that point, it will take several additional years before the carrier has an operationally viable air group," Hull-Ryde said in an email.

    She declined to comment on the DigitalGlobe photo, saying it was an intelligence matter.

    ___

    Follow Dan Elliott at http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP

    ___

    Online:

    http://www.digitalglobe.com

     
    • John  •  St Louis, Missouri  •  1 mth 3 days ago
      No reason to worry, it's only going to see the sights in beautiful Pearl Harbor. It hopes to make all US ships, especially the military ones the beauty of the " Arizona " and plans to make the fleet a museum. That is if the great Chinese Emperior Sun is correct about keeping it's enemies close to home. It may even make a trip to southern China,er, Australia Is McCarthur still alive? He said to fight them now,( 1952 ), OR fight them later after they think they are superior to us. Don't just laugh it off. It may just be a smoke screen, a radioactive one!
    • Y2K  •  Copperas Cove, Texas  •  1 mth 20 days ago
      India has done the same thing the Chinese did. How come no one bing this out? Is India so unimportant the media don't even bother to bring this subject up? That's mess up!
    • OLUWOLEA  •  Lagos, Nigeria  •  1 mth 25 days ago
      On this ship aircraft carrier, is there any supervisory body or control boly (quality etc)
    • glen  •  Los Angeles, California  •  1 mth 25 days ago
      The Chinese are comin' for their $$ we borrowed from them!! They are gonna foreclose on us!!! We will be out in the streets with no place to live!!! Like the Jews!!! AAAAHHHHHHH!!! We gotta do somthin'!!!
    • lee  •  Doylestown, Pennsylvania  •  1 mth 24 days ago
      China Minds her own Business unlike Us running our butts into every conflict we can stick our nose into. Its actually easy to understand. They are happy doing their own thing, why dont we get that? And one other thing-- Maybe if we had their Beautiful Trim, shapely women,instead of our water buffalos,maybe we would stay home and be happy also. anyway 1 aircraft Carrier and no experience with aircraft carriers isnt that big of a deal, Unless they load it with their beautiful Trim and fit women and pull up along side our carriers. Then we might have a AWOL problem.Just sayin...
    • ricardo  •  Luanda, Angola  •  1 mth 22 days ago
      it is prophesized: Ezekiel mentioned Gogue and Magogue, nations that will rise against the chosen children of God! but, Jesus will prevail at the end...the world will see that God is mighty!!!
    • Armando Pena  •  San Antonio, Texas  •  1 mth 25 days ago
      I'm confident this ship is like everything else made in China.
    • Eddie  •  Seattle, United States  •  2 mths ago
      As far as all the negative comments go, enjoy your freedom of speech. However why would any of us be concerned they would attack us? We never stick our nose where it doesn't belong, we have never attacked other country"s for no reason (especially not for our own interests), we don't act arrogant or better then others, we don't try to impose democracy on other country's who have no interest in it, we do not ignore other country's dangerous actions (i.e. North Korea, Iran) who are trying to do ill will, instead we attack Iraq who had all those weapons of mass destruction. Lol. It's not that we shouldn't be aware of what other country's are doing it's the fact that we back down to the strong and pick o the weak. I mean come on. Do you remember your mother saying mind your own business? Or just worry about what your doing to affect people? And for my last point.....Why can we not take care of our countrymen first? Remember Katrina? Shoot to kill. Was that an appropriate response from our government against our own people? Sounds a little aggressive. How about the homeless and hungry? What did we do to solve that problem? My point being that we have enough of our own problems to address before we go sticking our nose into others business. When was the last time you heard of someone wanting to start a war with Canada?
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Nairobi, Kenya  •  1 mth 24 days ago
      It all about the War against civilizations,China also has to pose because of America,s eagerness to threatened others in their own way of life is not good.So it is not a surprise to see that China has to build its own carrier.But what i guess is that if the World powers do not get good leaders,we might go for a third World war definitely.Leaders today are not pro peaceful World rather power and arrogance.we thought, Obama was good but some body has misled Obama.His brain was full of wisdom ,but it is now full of knowledge only.
      Isaac Jacques Karamoja Kaabong.
    • Odd Thomas  •  Ramona, California  •  1 mth 25 days ago
      Who's going to train their pilots to land a fighter jet on the deck of a carrier, on a rolling sea on a pitch black night?
    • Steven  •  Tucson, Arizona  •  1 mth 25 days ago
      Dont worry they aren't gonna invade anyone....who would they want?
    • Beng Chai  •  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  •  1 mth 25 days ago
      Why worry about the little aircraft carrier. After all, China never start any war for the past 10 years, But some country was involved in wars for the last 10 years. If they don't stop fighting in other countries, or at least withdraw their troops as soon as possible, they will end up selling their aircraft carriers in the years to come.
    • Paris Wilson  •  Tampa, Florida  •  1 mth 19 days ago
      What we have to understand is that America does not care about all the money that China and India and Brazil are making, America encourages it as a matter of fact, the only thing America is concerned about is there military, when they start building crap that can blow us off the face of the earth then America has a problem with them, if you control the military then you control the world. as long as they are counting money, there not stock piling missles
    • Paris Wilson  •  Tampa, Florida  •  1 mth 19 days ago
      The take over is at hand, i hope that everybody is watching everybody else, because you know what happens when you can't watch everybody (" you'd better watch out")
    • MAXMAN357  •  Charlotte, United States  •  2 mths ago
      They will build them and America can't do a thing about it!
    • Henry  •  Singapore, Singapore  •  2 mths ago
      us should worry when they have 6 carrier and not one.
    • Slim  •  2 mths ago
      Here in the U.S. for some reason we have a very hard time looking at what we do and understanding it. We want to think that we can whip the world. It's time to wake up people. No we can't. Remember that guy named Hitler. He was thinking that same way and the rest of the world ganged up and and he lost. Don't think that it can't happen to us. A little invasion here and a little one there. Thats the way he started out out. A the dumb people there follow him. They were thinking the same way that most of the people here are thinking. The times have changed. We can be hit by air and sea now. Planes, Subs and Missles can hit the us now. We need to think and stop being sheep. I am a Vet. War is not a game. Old men start wars and young men have to fight them and die. It is not a video game. There is no reset button. People who die never come back. People that you attack never forget. I saw the republican debate and every one of them except Ron Paul wants to attack Iran. Who is going to pay for it? We the people of the USA? We who are losing our homes, We who can't find a job, We who can not get a tax break. Remember how the U.S.S.R. went into Afganistan and after they came out there was no more U.S.S.R? We can't keep policing the world and not taking care of our own people. If we do our own country will break up! There are plenty of other countries that do not want to see Iran with the bomb. Let them have this war. Like Obama did with Libya. I am tired of these old farts talking tuff because they know they will not have to lose their life to back up what they say. As our country becomes poor they and there family will have nothing to worry about. They have become rich off of us. There sons and daugthers will not go to war to die or come back half a person. They will not receive letters from their loved ones saying that there is not enough money to pay the morgage or the rent and have to feel like a crap because they are not there to take care of them. People please think before you vote some one into The office of The President who ia a fool. Their tough talk can cost you everything that you have. For those of you who will want to talk #$%$ just let me know. If you have a death wish. I will be happy to send you a gun so that you can just shoot your self in the head so that everyone else can live. In the next debate would some one ask anyone on the stage if the have ever been shot or had to kill some one and see what they say about it.
    • GCH  •  2 mths ago
      I dont' understand why Americans are worried about China when they have more pressing problems at home with the economy in scambles.
    • Klaus  •  Hong Kong, Hong Kong  •  2 mths ago
      India is not qualified to postpone delivery of the aircraft carrier converted

      Ministry of the Russian military-technical cooperation, said India modified "Vic la Tia" aircraft will be delivered before the end of next year in India.

      November 2011 - May 2012, machinery manufacturing in the north sea converted aircraft carrier ready to be tested, but this year the factory test inappropriate. India believes that the total work process according to the arrangements there four months, insisted on complete factory test pilot navigation.

      In January 2004, Russia and India signed an intergovernmental agreement, Russia's "Admiral Gorshkov" aircraft carrier will be mechanical factory in the north to the Indian Navy, modified, and the use of Russian-made aviation equipment. India, Russia will train about 1,500 people, and the construction of test base in the Indian Ocean. Original signatories of the contract price of $ 1.5 billion in 2008 to complete conversion, but the Russians underestimated the total workload for modification, delay the delivery date, and indicated that additional costs.

      On March 12, 2010 the Federal Government Prime Minister signed the "Vic la Tia" aircraft carrier converted the supplemental agreement, an increase of conversion costs. According to data from India, modified total cost of 23.3 billion U.S. dollars, the service life of 30 years.

      "Admiral Gorshkov" aircraft carrier (formerly named "Baku" was) in 1987 and joined the Northern Fleet service, carrier length 283 m, width 51 meters, a displacement of 45,000 tons.
    • PaddyBank  •  Ossining, United States  •  2 mths ago
      Its getting closer and this world is going to pop soon enough. With that I mean another World War. The US has gotten fat and has peaked. These other countries want the same thing and China isn't building carriers and secret underground nuke tunnels for nothing. I couldn't care any less anyway. This world sucks big time. Let's go already.
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