Type 004 aircraft carrier

Last updated
Class overview
OperatorsNaval ensign of China.svg  People's Liberation Army Navy
Preceded by Type 003 Fujian
Planned4 [1] (estimate)
Building1
General characteristics
Class & typeType 004
Type Aircraft carrier
DisplacementUp to 120,000 tons [2] [3] [4]
Propulsion Nuclear marine propulsion
SpeedAt least 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) [5]
Aircraft carried90 to 100 helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, [2] [6] including J-15T multirole fighters, J-35 stealth fighters, KJ-600 AEW&C aircraft, HZ-20 ASW/utility helicopters, and stealth attack drones. [7]
Aviation facilities4–5 EM catapults, hangar deck [8]

The Type 004 aircraft carrier is an upcoming class of supercarriers for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy. The yet-unnamed lead ship of the class is currently in construction at the Dalian Shipyard since 2024, [9] and is the fourth aircraft carrier of the Chinese aircraft carrier programme and the third to be built indigenously by China.

Contents

Like the proceeding Type 003 carrier Fujian, the Type 004 carriers will be capable of catapult-assisted takeoff but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) operations via the same DC-supercapacitor electromagnetic catapult system jointly developed by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Unlike the conventionally-powered Fujian, the Type 004 will be much larger and also likely the first Chinese surface warship to feature nuclear marine propulsion. [10] [11]

China hoped to complete the carrier by the late 2020s, [12] [4] and indicated that up to four ships might be built, which would give China a total carrier fleet size of 7. [1] In October 2025, satellite imagery of the Dalian Shipyard showed the first stages of keel-laying and hull construction for the supposed Type 004 carrier. [13]

Design

Nuclear propulsion

In 2017, the Chinese Central Government was reportedly ready to spend RMB 22 billion (USD$3.3 billion) on the development of two prototype TMSR-LF1 thorium-based molten-salt reactors to be built at Wuwei, Gansu province in northwestern China, aiming to have the reactors operational by 2020. [14]

In December 2023, Jiangnan Shipyard unveiled plans for KUN-24AP, a 24,000  TEU nuclear-powered container ship designed to use Gen IV molten-salt reactors for propulsion. [15] The PLA Navy is interested in the same technology to power large surface warships as part of China's military-civil fusion strategy. [16] [ needs update ]

Aviation

The Type 004 could carry a larger complement of fixed-wing and rotorwing carrier-based aircraft than previous Chinese aircraft carriers, including the catapult-ready J-15T and J-35 fighters, Xian KJ-600 AEW&C aircraft, HZ-20 utility/ASW helicopters and stealth attack drones such as the GJ-21. [7]

It was previously suggested that the aircraft carrier might carry J-20 stealth-fighter aircraft. [17] However, in a programme in 2017 on China Central Television, retired PLAN 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. [18] In addition, the plane does not have folding wings for compact storage, and its stealth coating would be susceptible to degradation while at sea. [18]

History

Construction

In November 2024, reports were published that China was in the process of building a land-based prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface warship. [19] According to Associated Press, and based on new analysis of satellite imagery and Chinese government documents, this was a clear sign that China was starting to produce its first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. [19] The Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California was reported to have said that a mountain site outside the city of Leshan in the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan was the place where the prototype reactor was being developed. [20]

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. [21] [22] 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. [23]

According to the South China Morning Post, commercial satellite photographs posted on Chinese social media at the end of September 2025 very probably showed new hull sections of the Type 004 aircraft carrier being built at the shipyard in Dalian, Liaoning. [13] The sections were not visible in satellite imagery from August 2025, making a start to the hull of the aircraft carrier in September 2025 convincing. [13] According to analysts, the Type 004 carrier would likely have a displacement of 110,000–120,000 tons, making it 10–20% more massive than the USS Gerald R. Ford , which is currently the US's biggest aircraft carrier. This would make the Type 004 aircraft carrier China's first nuclear-powered supercarrier, as well as the world's largest aircraft carrier once it's completed. The Type 004 carrier is also expected to have 4–5 EMALS, and have the capacity to support at least 90–100 aircraft. [8] [2] Satellite imagery indicates that construction likely began in 2024, with progress becoming evident by late 2025. Based on the specifications of the Type 004 and China's building plans, military analysts believe that China is planning to rival the capabilities of the US's Ford supercarrier, and match the firepower of the US carrier fleet in the Pacific, while also giving China the ability to project power beyond the Second Island Chain. [24] [25]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Caleb Larson (28 April 2025). ""The US Stunned by China's Leap": China's Revolutionary Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier Redefine Naval Supremacy with Futuristic Technology". 19FortyFive. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Vladyslav Khomenko (2 October 2025). "Largest Ship in Asia: China Begins Construction of First Nuclear Aircraft Carrier". Militarnyi. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. 1 2 Hutchison, Harold C. (8 Jan 2018). "Communist China started building its third carrier". We Are The Mighty. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "Aircraft Carrier Project - People's Liberation Army Navy". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  6. ↑ Pike, John. "Aircraft Carrier Project - People's Liberation Army Navy". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  7. 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.
  8. 1 2 Reuben Johnson (6 October 2025). "China Building Type 004 Nuclear Super Aircraft Carrier, Maybe Larger Than Gerald R. Ford". National Security Journal. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Amid Taiwan tensions, Beijing reveals it is building aircraft carrier No 4". South China Morning Post. 6 March 2024. Archived from the original on 5 April 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ Kristin Huang (9 October 2022). "China's next aircraft carrier: nuclear-power speculation continues". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 Liu, Zhen (14 October 2025). "Images of hull sections suggest progress on China's fourth aircraft carrier". South China Morning Post . Archived from the original on 8 November 2025. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  14. ↑ Chen, Stephen (5 December 2017). "China Hopes Cold War Nuclear Energy Tech Will Power Warships, Drones". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  15. ↑ Yang, Carol (6 December 2023). "China showcases nuclear ultra-large containership concept". Lloyd's List . Shanghai: Kuehne + Nagel . Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  16. ↑ Chen, Stephen (5 December 2017). "China hopes cold war nuclear energy tech will power warships, drones". South China Morning Post . Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. 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.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. 1 2 "PLA admiral rejects talk of J-20 fighters on aircraft carriers". Asia Times . 24 November 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  19. 1 2 "China advances toward nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with new reactor prototype". Associated Press. 11 November 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  20. ↑ "China advances toward nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with new reactor prototype". Associated Press. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  21. ↑ Newdick, Thomas (13 February 2025). "Structure At Chinese Shipyard May Point To China's Next Aircraft Carrier's Capabilities". The War Zone. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  22. ↑ "China is working on an enormous aircraft carrier that rivals the biggest in the U.S. fleet, analysts say". NBC News. 2 March 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  23. ↑ Brahy, Jérôme (14 February 2025). "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 1 March 2025.
  24. ↑ "China starts building Type 004 nuclear aircraft carrier to rival U.S. Navy's Ford-class". Army Recognition. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  25. ↑ Gabriel Honrada (10 October 2022). "China's next aircraft carrier likely to be nuclear". The Asia Times. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.