Both Admiral and Vice Admiral He Pengfei are known as the "father of aircraft carriers" in the long history of the Chinese Navy. ** Former commander of the People's Navy, he actively promoted naval construction, putting forward the idea that China should have its own aircraft carrier formation.
Although China did not have the ability to introduce or build aircraft carriers at that time, the ideas and beliefs of *** had an impact on many admirals. And He Pengfei, as the son of the first marshal, although he did not serve as the commander of the navy, he deservedly was known as the "father of China's aircraft carriers".
At the end of the nineties of the last century, he became a key promoter and behind-the-scenes hero of the introduction of the aircraft carrier "Varyag" (the predecessor of the Liaoning). He Pengfei's three initiatives are admirable. First of all, he insisted on the purchase of the Varyag.
In 1998, he strongly advocated the introduction of the carrier, despite strong internal opposition. He Pengfei pointed out that even if China's economic and military budget at that time could not support the aircraft carrier fleet, the purchase of aircraft carriers for research and study would prepare for future development.
Despite failing to get approval from the Navy, He Pengfei was determined to take advantage of Ukraine's eagerness to get the low price ** back to China. Secondly, he used "civil means" to bid.
After careful consideration, He Pengfei came up with a method of private bidding, which not only does not violate the regulations of the army, but also reduces international resistance, which is conducive to winning the bid. The Chinese side was faced with a difficult task, they needed to buy an aircraft carrier, but this task was full of difficulties and challenges.
He Pengfei of the Equipment Department of the General Staff Department decided to hand over the bidding task to Xu Zengping, a patriotic Hong Kong businessman. Xu Zengping successfully bid for the Varyag aircraft carrier at a low price of $20 million, but the subsequent process was extremely complicated. He faced difficulties in capital turnover and was unable to support the follow-up process of the aircraft carrier.
He Pengfei kept seeking financing, but due to the lack of support from the army and the army, no one dared to take over the aircraft carrier project without approval.
In the end, General He Pengfei received the full support of Shao Chun, the then chairman of Huaxia**, who advanced funds for the purchase of ships many times through flexible financial means, and took huge personal pressure for this.
After a series of negotiations, China finally succeeded in getting Turkey to release the aircraft carrier. However, it is regrettable that General He Pengfei had a heart attack before this and unfortunately passed away.
While anchoring in the Bosphorus, the Varyag tragically passed away, and it did not arrive in the Chinese port of Dalian until March of the following year.
After years of research, continuation and renovation projects, China officially opened its first aircraft carrier Liaoning in September 2012, which marks the perfect crystallization of the hard work of He Pengfei and other heroes.
The Liaoning was rebuilt from the Varyag, which laid the foundation for China to build a domestic aircraft carrier, the Shandong, and subsequently built the Fujian, which was equipped with a flat-angle deck and an electromagnetic catapult device.
The development of the Chinese Navy's aircraft carrier has been a step-by-step process, and if it weren't for the initial introduction of the Varyag, we would have had to spend many more years exploring. General He Pengfei's contribution is not a matter of words.
Although he never went to the battlefield like the founding generals, what he did in peacetime was equally far-reaching, and he was called the backbone of the nation, and he deservedly was known as the "true general".