Chinese Shandong Aircraft Carrier

We know that the Chinese Navy is progressing and developing quickly, even very quickly. This is the case for its destroyers and frigates, its conventional and nuclear submarines, or its assault ships. This is also the case for its fleet of aircraft carriers.

While the first Chinese aircraft carrier entered service less than 7 years ago, the Chinese Navy received a second ship, the first of national design, two years later, in 2017. The third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, was launched in June 2022, and should very soon begin its sea trials, with a probable entry into service in 2025.

And the momentum doesn't seem destined to abate. Indeed, according to statements by Chinese military and civilian officials, China has already started construction of the fourth aircraft carrier intended for the Chinese Navy.

The Construction of The 4th Chinese Aircraft Carrier Does Not Encounter Technological Difficulties

It was during Chinese parliamentary meetings, an annual event in which officials of the People's Liberation Army rarely participate, that Chinese Navy officers confirmed that the construction of the 4th Chinese aircraft carrier had already started.

The Chinese aircraft carrier CV-18 Fujian is expected to begin sea trials very soon.

On this subject, PLA political commissar Yuan Huazhi, added that the design of this new building was done without any hitches and without technological obstacles. And to add that the propulsion of the ship, conventional or nuclear, will be officially announced soon.

However, many experts believe that developing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier would be too premature for China's naval industry, as it is for the aftera

Indeed, it seems that Beijing does not have nuclear boiler rooms deploying a power suitable for the propulsion of an aircraft carrier, a ship which must be capable of sustaining very high speeds, in transit, and especially during aviation maneuvers.

Furthermore, in the next ten or fifteen years, the needs of the Chinese Navy will be concentrated within the second circle of islands surrounding the China Sea, for which a conventionally powered aircraft carrier, otherwise more economical and faster to design and build than a nuclear-powered ship, is more than enough.

The need for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will certainly appear in the years to come, when the Chinese Navy will have all the means, but also the operational experience, to support long-term power projection missions. distance.

An Evolved Fujian Sister Ship For The Chinese Navy?

In fact, the most credible hypothesis concerning this 4th Chinese aircraft carrier would be that it would be a sister ship of the Fujian, or, more precisely, an evolution of it, as has been the case of the Shandong, derived from the Liaoning, but bringing numerous developments to make the ship more efficient.

As a reminder, the French Charles de Gaulle has a length of 261 m, for a loaded tonnage of only 42 tons, whereas the British aircraft carriers of the Queen Elizabeth class reach 500 meters in length, for 280 65 tonnes of displacement.

Its size is not Fujian's only asset. It has, in fact, some very modern features, such as electromagnetic catapults, similar to those equipping the new American Ford-class aircraft carriers, and the future French PANG.

Its embarked air group will be formed of 45 to 60 aircraft, and will consist of J-15T fighters adapted to the use of catapults, J-35 stealth fighters, as well as KJ-600 air surveillance aircraft. Drones and helicopters will complete this GAE, giving it operational capabilities close to those of the American super aircraft carriers of the Nimitz and Ford classes.

The differences between the 4th Chinese aircraft carrier and the Fujian are obviously still unknown. If on several occasions, specialists in aerial and special photographic analysis had identified the possible construction of the ship, it appeared that they were, most often, hulls of large commercial ships.

The Fujian Aircraft Carrier Will Soon Begin Sea Trials

The aircraft carrier Fujian was returned to the sea a few days ago, after several weeks in the refit basin, after most of the work was completed on board the building launched in June 2022.

The Fujian is equipped with 3 EMALS electromagnetic catapults, comparable to those equipping American Ford-class aircraft carriers, and the future French carriers.

Everything suggests, including the painting of the ship and the coating placed on the flight deck, that it will very soon begin its sea trials campaign, paving the way for a probable entry into service before the mid-2025. It had, in fact, taken just over a year for the Chinese Navy, since the start of the tests, to declare the entry into service of the Shandong, in December 2019.

It is likely that this entry into service will take place jointly with that of the aircraft of its embarked air group, in particular the J-35 stealth fighter (still a default name, due to lack of official designation), and the KJ-600 air surveillance . With the J-15 heavy fighter bomber, Fujian will have a GAE comparable to those of American aircraft carriers, with the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, the F-35C Lightning 2 and the E-2D Hawkeye .

The Liaoning Aircraft Carrier Begins Tests With A Model of The J-35 Stealth Fighter On Board

In this regard, the aircraft carrier Liaoning has undertaken a test and validation campaign at sea, after a major maintenance period which lasted more than a year. The ship is expected to return to active service within a few months.

But it could well welcome, on this occasion, a new aircraft into its on-board air group. Indeed, after a model of J-35 was observed on the Liaoning Bridge, for several days, while it was completing its maintenance phase, it appeared that this model would have remained on the deck of the aircraft carrier, for its sea trials.

The aircraft carrier Liaoning has begun its trials, after a planned maintenance period of 1 year, taking on board a model of the J-15 and a model of the J-35. It is likely that these two aircraft will therefore form its embarked air group in the months to come.

The use of this model aims to validate the movements of this aircraft on the deck, in the hangars and during transitions on board the aircraft carrier. That it was embarked during sea trials confirms the high probability that the stealth fighter will join the Liaoning air group in the months or years to come.

If this is the case, the Liaoning's sister ship, the Shandong, will also be able to accommodate and operate the J-35, once it has undergone an interior overhaul, to be able to maintain the aircraft.

The ability to embark J-35s aboard the Liaoning and Shandong will increase the operational capabilities of these two aircraft carriers, as well as train and qualify Chinese naval pilots, without having to mobilize Type aircraft carriers-003, with much greater operational potential, for this mission.

The fact remains that, in the current dynamic, the Chinese Navy will have admitted into service four major aircraft carriers, all weighing more than 60 tons, in barely ten years, all while learning to design, build, and implement, this type of ship.

In fact, the current dynamic suggests that the Chinese Navy is also aiming to acquire a fleet of around a dozen aircraft carriers, to match, why not surpass, in this area too, with the US Navy, by 2045. Which would be a first since the mid-1930s, and the rise in power of the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet.

(With Agency Inputs)