Sao Paulo Aircraft carrier

[punit]

It is not ski jump type.

Who made the catapult on this old air craft carrier?

its an EX-French Navvy Carrier.

 

[Penguin]

A NLCA type air craft should be apt for this sort of air craft since they would like to operate till 2040.

Which poses in interesting question for the future. Eventually, this carrier will retire. Brazil will then either have to accept life without a carrier or get a replacement. For the replacement, it is either buy or make. And they will also have to get aircraft to go with it. Given the past actions of Brazil, I'm inclined to think they will buy rather than build a carrier. So, what options do they have? And, what planes could be had?

Possible replacements are presently in the early stage of planning and will not be expected until at least 2025.

Let's look at used vessels: Admiral Kuznetsov is expected to remain in service to 2025. However, she's been at it since 1990 and is known for having technical problems (esp. engines). IMHO not an option, unless as spareparts hulk. By this time, INS Vikramaditya is about 12 years into service and Liaoning about 13 years. Both of these are rejuvenated older ships. In both cases there are domestic carrier programs. I could well see a scenaria where either would be retired early and sold to Brazil, while the parent navy gets another new carrier. I don't see any other 'used' options.

As for new built, I don't see US proviging a carrier. However, it's always possible that a version of the UKs QE carriers could be acquired, or something smaller European yards. More/most likely, however, would be a Chinese of Indian built carrier. Both would have sk-jump type vessels to offer, and both can offer aircraft with it. If Brazil is patient enough (or can stretch Sao Paulo long enough), it could possibly even get a CATOBAR carrier from either.

For the skijump option, Tejas, Mig29K and J15 are candidates, with Tejas imho the only one that could also be operated from Sao Paulo (it is lighter than both Mig29K and Rafale, while J15 is still heavier). For a CATOBAR ship, well, those should also be capable to handling Rafale or F/A-18E or F-35C in addition to the other three suspects.