Jiangnan Changxing shipyard, which is building China’s first conventionally-powered CATOBAR aircraft carrier, releases an illustration of what it could be the Navy’s next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Chinese. Photo / Twitter
Jiangnan Changxing shipyard, which is building China’s first conventionally-powered CATOBAR aircraft carrier, releases an illustration of what it could be the Navy’s next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Chinese. Photo / Twitter
It’s not exactly “best practice”. But the promotional banners displayed by Chinese defence contractors have a history of revealing new projects. It appears their next-generation nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is no exception.
Corporate images from the state-owned Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard in Shanghai are circulating on China’s internal social media platforms. What makes these more interesting than the usual “handshaking suits” is what’s on display in the background.
It’s a possible design for the future Type 004 aircraft carrier.
And it’s not the first time the shipyard has revealed a new project this way.
An otherwise boring executive boardroom function photo shoot in 2018 caught global attention after a computer-rendered image of an advanced aircraft carrier design was spotted in the background. It turned out to be an accurate representation of the Type 003 class ship launched under the name PLAN Fujian in June last year.
This time, it is an equal match for the United States’ troubled new USS Ford class of advanced supercarriers.
Tentatively dubbed “Type 004″ and displaying hull number 20 (19 may have been reserved for a sistership of Fujian), it also appears to share many of the characteristics of the new US design and France’s next nuclear-powered warship.
Despite crowing at how its arrays of hypersonic guided missiles make US Navy aircraft carrier battle groups vulnerable, Beijing has been demonstrating its fascination with the highly visible war machines.
Its first domestically-built aircraft carrier, the PLAN Shandong, is playing a central role in Beijing’s posturing against Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent meeting with the United States’ third most powerful man, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
It’s been positioned off the east coast of the island democracy as People’s Liberation Army forces practice blockade and invasion manoeuvres.
US Navy's aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (centre), South Korean Navy's destroyer Yulgok Yi (right) and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's Umigiri (left) sail in formation during a joint naval exercise in international waters off South Korea. Photo / Getty Images
Nuclear-powered behemoths
Pentagon analysts expect the Chinese Navy to operate six aircraft carriers by 2040.
The United States has 11, of which four are ready for use at any one time. Beijing has only its two training carriers (PLAN Liaoning and Shandong) operational.
The much improved and enlarged PLAN Fujian is undergoing its final fit-out at the Jiangnan shipyard.
But this Type 003 design is slightly smaller than the USS Ford and its older USS Nimitz class counterparts. And while it appears to feature modern electromagnetic catapults and arresting wires for its aircraft, it has conventional diesel-powered engines.
The Type 004 concept images, first identified by East Pendulum, show a vastly different ship.
It is clearly a large, catapult-equipped design, unlike the PLAN Liaoning and Shandong that rely on a ski-ramp to help get heavily-laden aircraft into the air.
And its small control-tower island does not incorporate a large exhaust such as that seen on the PLAN Fujian to dispel noxious fumes from a diesel engine.
That’s the strongest indication yet that the next design will be nuclear-powered.
Apart from the United States, only France operates a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The latest British design, the HMS Queen Elizabeth class, does not have catapults and is diesel-powered.
Power projection
Beijing has largely completed its first overseas naval base at Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa. Work continues at a similar facility on the coast of Pakistan. And speculation persists that secretive construction work at Cambodia’s Ream Base is intended to support Chinese deployments.
But despite its Belt and Road economic drive, China is yet to build up a global network of ports to support significant international naval operations.
Building nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, however, will reduce the logistic strain of supporting a fleet at sea.
Such ships don’t need to dock for refuelling. And the vast fuel tanks required to drive the likes of PLAN Fujian and HMS Queen Elizabeth through the water are redundant. This space can instead be dedicated to supplying a larger air group. And supplies can be replenished via ship-to-ship transfers while underway.
And China has positioned itself to give the future Type 004 a combat capability as effective as its US counterpart.
The KJ-600 carrier-based airborne early warning and control aircraft has been spotted undergoing testing on the Chinese mainland. Its appearance resembles the US Navy’s E-2 Hawkeye, operating since the 1960s.
Chinese state-controlled media has also been hinting at the ongoing development of the Shenyang J-35. This aircraft-carrier-capable stealth fighter has a strong visual similarity to the US Navy’s F-35C stealth fighter. And it would be able to exploit the catapult and landing systems of the PLAN Fujian and Type 004 to carry heavier loads, meaning it can fly further with greater combat capabilities.
Shortcuts make long delays
After almost 10 years of delays, the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier is on the brink of its first operational deployment. It is due to set sail early in May with a complete battle group of escorting ships to do what it was built for.
The radically new design was launched in 2013. But a seemingly unending chain of technical hurdles has prevented the US Navy from certifying it as operational.
Project manager Captain Brian Metcalf now says the USS Ford (CVN-78) has “fully transitioned to an in-service ship”.
Captain Metcalf told a public function earlier this month that “Ford has earned her combat systems qualification. She’s earned every certification she needs to deploy, and I fully believe that the aircraft carrier, her air wing, and her battle group are capable of defending themselves.”
But the process of getting there was a painful one.
— USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) (@Warship_78) April 4, 2023
The ship and its radically new technology were built under a “fast-track” programme that skipped prototype testing and instead relied on computer simulations to identify all potential issues. Upon delivery, the electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) arresting gear and weapons elevators were essentially non-functional. It also had power distribution problems.
And the ship still cannot operate the navy’s newest combat jet – the F-35C Lightning II strike fighter.
Sister ship USS John F. Kennedy is also well behind schedule.
It was supposed to be delivered last year. But its most recent revision says it won’t be handed over before 2025.
One reported reason is the need to rebuild part of the ship to accommodate the F-35C, despite the stealth fighter first flying as far back as 2006. But a significant portion of the effort is incorporating lessons learned from failures aboard the USS Ford.
“There were a handful of new technologies that, frankly, took longer than we estimated, and this will not be the norm,” Captain Metcalf explained. “You will not see another six-year interval between the delivery of (the USS Kennedy) and its deployment. We should never do that again.”
