Projecting power

The Chinese launched their first home-grown carrier today. It will likely take two years (or more) to be fully operational, but it's a critical piece in the drive to increase Chinese presence in the South China Sea.

While the ship's function (and expected air arm) is more akin to, say the Italian Cavour than to American supercarriers, published reports of its dimensions show it's larger than the Cavour, and in terms of length - not necessarily a good measurement - it's close to the Nimitz class vessels.

Reuters.

(A fictional version of the carrier and its still-building sister ship make brief appearances in the Red Dragon series.)