Type 004 aircraft carrier

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Class overview
OperatorsNaval ensign of China.svg  People's Liberation Army Navy
Preceded by Type 003 aircraft carrier
Planned4 [1]
General characteristics
Class and typeType 004
Type Aircraft carrier
DisplacementUp to 110,000 tons [2] [3]
Propulsion Nuclear marine propulsion
Speed30+ knots [4]
Aircraft carried70 to 100 helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, [5] including J-15 and possibly J-35 fighters, Xian KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft, anti-submarine warfare aircraft, and stealth attack drones. [6]
Aviation facilities Hangar deck

The Type 004 aircraft carrier is a planned supercarrier of the People's Liberation Army Navy's aircraft carrier programme. Like the Type 003 aircraft carrier (Fujian) it will feature an integrated electric propulsion system that will allow the operation of electromagnetic catapults. [7]

Contents

Unlike the conventionally-powered Type 003, the Type 004 will be much larger and also the first Chinese carrier to feature nuclear marine propulsion. [7] [8] As of 2017, China hoped to complete the carrier by the late 2020s, and indicated that up to four might be built. [1]

The Army Recognition Group in February 2025 estimated that Type 004 would be the heaviest warship ever made. [9] The analysts also added that Type 004 would, if the displacement between 110,000 and 120,000 tonnes was actually realised, become the largest aircraft carrier in the world, larger than the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest ever warship in spring 2025. [9]

Design

Nuclear propulsion

In 2017, China's central government was reportedly ready to spend RMB 22 billion (US$3.3 billion) on the development of two prototype molten salt nuclear reactors to be built at Wuwei in Gansu province. The goal then was to have the reactors operational by 2020. The PLA Navy is interested in the technology to power warships including aircraft carriers. [10] [ needs update ]

Aircraft

The Type 004 carrier could carry a complement of carrier-ready J-15 and J-35 fighters, Xian KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft, anti-submarine warfare aircraft, and stealth attack-drones. [6]

It was previously suggested that the aircraft carrier might carry J-20 stealth-fighter aircraft. [11] However, in a programme in 2017 on China Central Television, PLA Navy Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong dismissed the possibility that the J-20 aircraft would be used on aircraft carriers as the aircraft was not structurally designed to cope with carrier operations. [12] In addition, the plane does not have folding wings for compact storage, and its stealth coating would be susceptible to degradation while at sea. [12]

History

Construction

On 13 February 2025, reports and images surfaced that showed construction work on a module consistent with an aircraft carrier being carried out at a shipyard in Dalian, in Liaoning province. [13] The module apparently was a section of the flight deck and was seen in satellite imagery provided by Google Earth in May 2024. In early 2024, analysts observed, sections of the C3 and C4 catapults were also being built for testing near the dock in Dalian where the second Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong was built from 2013 to 2016. [9]

The nuclear reactor for the aircraft carrier was being developed at NPIC in Mucheng in early 2025, according to reports. [9] These reports also stated that a prototype reactor had been built on land; they added that satellite pictures prove that NPIC’s Site No. 1, sometimes called Base 909, was the location of the reactor. [9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "What China's Aircraft Carrier Means for its Naval Defence Capabilities | GRI". 2 June 2017.
  2. ↑ Farley, Robert (5 May 2018). "China Building 'Nuclear' Aircraft Carriers: Could the Navy's Worst Nightmare Come True?". The National Interest . Center for the National Interest . Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  3. ↑ Hutchison, Harold C. (8 Jan 2018). "Communist China started building its third carrier". We Are The Mighty. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Aircraft Carrier Project - People's Liberation Army Navy". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  5. ↑ Pike, John. "Aircraft Carrier Project - People's Liberation Army Navy". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 Lin, Jeffrey Lin; Singer, P.W. (6 March 2018). "A Chinese shipbuilder accidentally revealed its major navy plans". Popular Science . Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  7. 1 2 Roblin, Sebastien (1 May 2017). "The Real Reason the World Needs to Pay Attention to China's Growing Aircraft Carrier Fleet". The National Interest . Center for the National Interest . Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  8. ↑ Mizokami, Kyle (7 September 2018). "Inside China's Plan to Build the Second-Biggest Aircraft Carrier Fleet in the World". Foxtrot Alpha. Jalopnik . Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Brahy, Jérôme. "Analysis | Could China's future Type 004 replace the USS Gerald R. Ford as the world's most powerful aircraft carrier?". www.armyrecognition.com. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
  10. ↑ Chen, Stephen (5 December 2017). "China hopes cold war nuclear energy tech will power warships, drones". South China Morning Post . Retrieved 19 June 2018. Chen Fu, a thermal physicist at the Harbin Institute of Technology involved in the development of new power generation systems for China's navy, said the heat generated by a thorium molten salt reactor could be perfect to help generate power on a warship.
  11. ↑ Lin, Jeffrey Lin; Singer, P.W. (16 August 2017). "China's making major progress with its aircraft carrier tech". Popular Science . Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  12. 1 2 "PLA admiral rejects talk of J-20 fighters on aircraft carriers". Asia Times . 24 November 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  13. ↑ Newdick, Thomas (2025-02-13). "Structure At Chinese Shipyard May Point To China's Next Aircraft Carrier's Capabilities". The War Zone. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
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