00X/004 future nuclear CATOBAR carrier thread

[ACuriousPLAFan]

What would make Captain 小潇 credible in this case?

He's the first one to post those photos on Weibo (as with some previous instances).

And per my observation until now, he does have certain degree of credibility (though perhaps not as high as the likes of the Guancha Trios or Cute Orca).

Though again, as I have mentioned in my previous posts - In the case of CV-19 or CVN-19: I don't know for sure, so I'd like to keep my options open for now.

 

[asif iqbal]

just when you think Chinese may have peaked their military industrial complex

the Chinese are not only about to level the playing field they are simply about to over take USN

CV-16 and CV-17

003 a true home designed and built flat deck Carrier which will have J-35 fighter jets and KJ-600 AWACS

004 sister ship

now lets see JNCX got for the CVN-20 and DL do the second CVN-21

Top cover by J-XX and J-36 6th Generation fighters and UCAVS like GJ-11J

astonishing no wonder Pete Hegseth was asking NATO to increase defence to 5% so USA can focus on Pacific today

 

[Interstellar]

Possible first ship module (could be a test/evaluation module) that belongs to the 004 CVN has appeared at Dalian. Posted by @Captain小潇 on Weibo and @rational314159 on Twitter.

The ship module has two troughs that are slightly angled to one another, which are very likely EMCAT troughs (compared to the same previously seen on a ship module at Hudong-Zhonghua, which was likely meant for the 076 LHD, 4th photo) and closely matches that of the 3rd and 4th (waist) catapults found on the Nimitz and Ford CVNs (3rd photo).

What looks to be mockups of a J-15T and a helicopter is also visible beside the hull module (2nd photo).

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It's been ten years.. How time flies

via =GT ... look what's behind !??

 

[para80]

As far as I can recall:
1. There have been academic papers on nuclear propulsion systems for large vessels (of which I recall the placeholder diagram of that nuclear propulsion system in one of the papers which look familiar/similar to those placeholder diagrams of similar systems on the USN CVNs seen before);
2. There have been tender documents from 2 or 3 years ago from Dalian regarding the upgrading works for certain sites/facilities at the shipyard that would enable the handling of nuclear-related materials (I don't recall the same happening at Jiangnan for the time being, apart from that one Jiangnan delegation visit to Huludao some years ago);
3. Dalian shipyard has never built a submarine before, let alone a nuclear-powered one; and
4. Indications/hints from Chinese OSINT sources on Weibo that are deemed credible/reliable (have been following them for some time).

Minor, annoying correction. Dalian has constructed the original Type 031 ballistic missile submarine. This was due to the fact that Wuchang and Jiangnan at the time had no spare capacity, and Huludao wasnt ready.

 

[charles18]

...
The only thing we can be sure of is that China is actually building a CVN right now.

Donald Trump will impose a 25% tariff on all imported CVN's

 

[ismellcopium]

It is astonishing, if true, but the triumphalism you are conveying is presumptive.

There are essentially two ways of interpreting the information about the fourth carrier being nuclear:
1. The fourth carrier will start construction in the next few years, causing us great astonishment that their nuclear propulsion technology is so sufficiently advanced that they are able to start construction by 2025ish.
2. The fourth carrier will not start construction until well after 2025 (such as late 2020s), causing us great astonishment that the PLAN is willing to wait that long until they have a fourth carrier in the pipeline (i.e.: with 003 launching this year, it could thus end up being 8-9 years between the launching of the fourth carrier).


Both of these range of projections are equally "astonishing" but only one of them are positive in the way you are interpreting it.

This entire discussion over the last few pages is spawned from pop3's statement that China's fourth carrier will be nuclear.

Personally, I think building a second 003 carrier makes sense before moving onto the CVN, but we also cannot simply ignore a black and white statement from pop3 like this.

It means we are thrown back into the unknown and have to both assess pop3's reliability (again), as well as consider the various ways in which pop3's statement could be interpreted and the rationale behind them.



However pop3's statement is interpreted however, it cannot co-exist with the idea of a second 003 carrier being built, period.

So, vindicated again?

 

[AndrewJ]

What are these? Are they also carrier module parts?

Maybe 1 and 2 are for the carrier, and 3 for the oil tanker?

 

[Neurosmith]

Assuming that these modules are indeed for the next PLAN carrier, why is it assumed that they are for the CVN rather than a second conventional CATOBAR carrier? Both are rumored to be under construction.

Is it because JNCX built the Type 003?

 

[AndrewJ]

Well, Guancha Trios said 003 #2 is by JNCX so that it can be built faster, considering their experience in 003 #1.
While CVN is built by DL, to maximize capacity utilization, which has long idle its capacity after CV-16 & CV-17.

This is a fairly reasonable parallel construction plan.
But we haven't heard any news from JNCX, so it's a bit strange now.

 

[Blitzo]

So, vindicated again?

In what way?