Does the "carrier number 4" means the 4th carrier for PLAN service, or 4th carrier build indigenously by China for PLAN service?
00X/004 future nuclear CATOBAR carrier thread
- Thread starter AETHER
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Pardon me as a newcomer here, but who/what is pop3?
And why is pop3 regarded as a more reliable source? Is he/she/it an insider of the PLAN?
And may I know where to find the pop3 website/account?
It’s the carrier 004 he’s talking about, which means the next carrier will be nuclear powered according to him.
That means the Type 003 would only be a solo ship class?
That would be for the best of the PLAN and China, IMHO. Damn I hope China would just build 2 Type 003s simultaneously so that PLAN can operate 4 carrier battle groups by 2027 instead of 2035.
Side note #1: A typical Ford/Nimitz-class carrier is estimated to take around 5-6 years to complete. Once China has mastered CATOBAR operations and nuclear marine propulsion technology for carriers, I do expect China to be able to build similarly-sized supercarriers (i.e. Type 004/005-class) in less time than their American counterparts. Maybe 4 years would do.
Facing with at least 6x Ford/Nimitz + 2x Izumo + 2x future CVX (Korea) + (maybe) 2x Queen Elizabeth in the Pacific, China would need at least 6 carrier battle groups (preferably 8) in order to go toe-to-toe with these bunch of NATO-&-Partners Co. in the Pacific Ocean.
The pressure on China would be very immense in the coming years, and the PLAN must become the formidable seaward shield against the act of aggression made by the NATO-&-Partners Co.
What I do wonder is how would China print out nuclear-powered Type 004/005 supercarriers like how they are printing out the Type 052Ds, Type 055s and Type 054As.
Side note #2: I use an additional Type 005-class designation. This is by assuming that Type 004 would be an experimental solo class as well, and Type 005 would be the serial production class of nuclear-powered supercarriers for the PLAN.
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Pop3 is a retired PLAN service man. He has proved to be a very reliable source of PLAN information for many years.
Having said that, it’s evident that the longer he has retired, the less information he can get.
For example, he had always been very adamant until Sep 2012 that China’s first indigenous aircraft carrier would be a flat top with steam cats. But the truth is copying Varyag has always been the plan of project 048 since year 2004.
And, even 15 years ago other people had reminded him that EMAL was progressing very well, steam cats’s selection was nothing but certain. Yet he held on to his old steam cats dream till late.
I do regard him as the most reliable guy , but given China’s unique situation and his own situation, I rate him 3 out of 10 when we talk about latest sensitive PLAN equipments. That is the highest score I would give to any one of those famous mainland military online commentators.
Rough translation:
A: Is that CV19 on the right? (Referring satellite image of Type-003)
Pop3: Fourth Aircraft carrier? Don't even think about it, construction hasn't even started yet, the design process is not finished yet.
B: Holy F**k, last year you said the nuclear carriers were making good progress, but it turned out to be still in design process?
Pop3: Only fanboys talk about the progress after segment appeared in shipyard. But the actual process is project establishment, the subsequent technical design, construction design and so on, to the platform or dock stage, the whole process is already halfway over.
And after the launch of the first ship, there is still testing. Generally it is called expanded test, test for strategic weapons such as CVs is called national test.
A: No. 4 CVs can't be completely overhauled, right? (Suggesting the change on Type. 003)
Pop3: The plan set (by Project 048 probably) at that time was "two steps and three stages".
"Two steps" are first modified and then domestic.
"Three stages" are the Ski jump, two steam catapults and then nuclear power.
However, the reality didn't come as planned, as CV-17 was added out of the original plan.
After that, the electromagnetic catapult came out, this is another change, the central military commission decided to stall the construction of the CV18 for one year, to order Institute No.1 (?) modified the design and then resume construction.
The fourth ship will be now nuclear-powered.
A: Is that CV19 on the right? (Referring satellite image of Type-003)
Pop3: Fourth Aircraft carrier? Don't even think about it, construction hasn't even started yet, the design process is not finished yet.
B: Holy F**k, last year you said the nuclear carriers were making good progress, but it turned out to be still in design process?
Pop3: Only fanboys talk about the progress after segment appeared in shipyard. But the actual process is project establishment, the subsequent technical design, construction design and so on, to the platform or dock stage, the whole process is already halfway over.
And after the launch of the first ship, there is still testing. Generally it is called expanded test, test for strategic weapons such as CVs is called national test.
A: No. 4 CVs can't be completely overhauled, right? (Suggesting the change on Type. 003)
Pop3: The plan set (by Project 048 probably) at that time was "two steps and three stages".
"Two steps" are first modified and then domestic.
"Three stages" are the Ski jump, two steam catapults and then nuclear power.
However, the reality didn't come as planned, as CV-17 was added out of the original plan.
After that, the electromagnetic catapult came out, this is another change, the central military commission decided to stall the construction of the CV18 for one year, to order Institute No.1 (?) modified the design and then resume construction.
The fourth ship will be now nuclear-powered.