Jura here it is nothing new just the old one
The program of the Chinese nuclear aircraft carrier in sight?
BY
Is China developing a new nuclear aircraft carrier program? If the answer to the question seems to be both logical and trivial, given the growing importance of maritime interests to fuel the "rebirth" of the country and the technological rise in all-out power observed over the last 10 years, no evidence rendered public does not confirm this one so far.
But an article published last Tuesday on the website of the
China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), one of the two major Chinese public shipbuilding conglomerates with
China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), has just brought a clear touch to the question.
Indeed, in the first edition of this text entitled "New trip, new plan. What should CSIC do in this new era of high quality development? (新 征程, 新 谋划! 高质量 发展 的 新 时代, 中 船 重工 应该 怎么 干? 纲要 明晰 前进 方向) - which is no longer accessible (
/329502.htm) but that we have registered a copy before it is reissued - the word "nuclear aircraft carrier" has been at the top of the list of several major equipments to be developed to achieve the "strategic transformation of the Chinese navy by 2025 ".
实现加快
核动力航母 ,新型核潜艇,安静型潜艇,水下无人智能对抗体系,水下立体攻防体系和海战场综合电子信息系统等攻关突破,增强基于网络信息体系的联合作战能力,全域作战能力,为海军2025年实现走向深蓝远海的战略转型提供高质量武器装备.
The article published on the site of the CSIC group, before and after the reshuffle (Image: CSIC, East Pendulum)
Although the Chinese shipbuilding group quickly
, which contains the keywords like "nuclear aircraft carrier", "new nuclear submarine", "sub-nuclear" "diesel-powered", "Unmanned underwater intelligent global system", "Multi-dimensional global anti-submarine warfare system" and "Integrated information system for the naval battlefield", but many have already had the time to capture this vital information.
The Japanese Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera, for example, has now expressed his concern about the news last Friday in front of the journalists. He said that China has increased its air and sea activities on neighboring areas, with a rapidly reinforced military capacity, but these lack transparency. His speech was relayed by several Japanese media including
.
A model of "future aircraft carrier", exhibited in a military museum of the Chinese army (Photos: PLANAVYCHN)
If this pseudo-confirmation of the existence of the Chinese nuclear aircraft carrier program seems surprising at first glance, this is not the case in reality since the nuclear aircraft carrier has always been part of the program of Chinese aircraft carriers and this since August 2004.
According to "Project 048" (also read 04.8 for August 2004) which defines the main framework in which the Chinese navy acquires aircraft carriers, the nuclear aircraft carrier consists of the third and final step after the transformation of the aircraft carrier. an existing STOBAR aircraft carrier (formerly
Varyag which now becomes
Liaoning ), and the development of a conventional propelled CATOBAR.
With the first two steps being actively underway today, with the ramp-up of the
Liaoningaircraft carrier 16 and the construction of a second STOBAR aircraft carrier at Dalian, the more the construction preparation of a third Chinese aircraft carrier in CATOBAR in Shanghai, it is therefore quite logical that the Chinese have started studies for their future nuclear aircraft carrier program.
As for the question as to why it is the CSIC that makes such an announcement, the answer is just as trivial since it is in this Chinese shipbuilding group that we find the largest main shipbuilding firm of the country's surface warfare (the 701 Institute) and also the only major naval nuclear propulsion engineering office (Institute 719).
For the moment, it is unclear what shipyard will be involved in the construction of future Chinese nuclear aircraft carriers, given that both Dalian of the CSIC group and Jiangnan Changxing of the CSSC group have the capacity and skills to carry them out. But it is not excluded that the construction can be assigned to both at the same time.
Today, almost no other public information is available on the status of the Chinese nuclear aircraft carrier program. Only sources close to the Chinese industrialists know that the ship or ships should equip "two large reactors specially developed" and not transformed since the submarine miniaturized reactors.
Given
, it is quite plausible to think that these systems will also be used.
To be continued.
