This flight deck layout is definitely too small. Even the Liaoning already has greater capability than 2 cats (by which I mean available surface area). This looks more like the size of the Charles De Gaulle, which seems exceedingly unlikely for the upcoming carrier.
The Charles De Gaulle with two catapults has a greater capability than Liaoning with her ski jump and only one long take-off strip. And a Liaoning-type carrier with two cats will have an even greater capability than Charles De Gaulle or Liaoning.
this dock - or the next one in the east - is suspectet to host the next big carrier, but a smaller dock could be used for a smaller ship
Wait, I'm confused -- what statement by which PRC official?
That picture is from some sort of academic study, and unrelated to any statement by any Chinese official. Am I misunderstanding you or might you be mixing two separate events up?
This is the full page of the particular study that the picture is from, and is quite a few years old (nearly four years old now):
Greater capability is to launch all types of aircraft (fighter, bomber, recce, AEW, tanker, etc.) from all take-off-positions at their maximum load.
The second part is what I'm trying to convey. Actually IMO the Liaoning has enough surface area to accommodate 3 cats at least, maybe even 4, in possibly the same layout as the Nimitz with 2 bow and 2 waist cats. Even if it cannot, the POTENTIAL of the Liaoning's flight deck surface area is already greater than either the Charles De Gaulle or the purported CG of CV-18, so the actual CV-18 which by all accounts is going to be even larger than the Liaoning should reasonably also have 3 or even 4 cats.
How sure are you that this new design is based on the Y-7 airframe? An AEW/C aircraft based on the Y-7 would be very large (compared to the E-2). Maybe a scaled-down version, or even a completely different aircraft.Whatever she looks like one thing will be clear. This new carrier will finally allow PLAN to be airborne AEW capable which means unlike CV 16/17 finally allows PLAN to have a true expeditionary carrier strike group venturing very far away from any land mass.
I think the key is the Y7J.
If they achieve that, PLAN will be the 3rd navy in the world that has that capability. A true blue water expeditionary carrier strike group.
Other than the USN and marine nationale, no other navy in the world has that capability at present.
In front of the forward elevator is not enough length for a starboard bow catapult. So I think a CATOBAR-Liaoning would have two cats, one on the port bow and one waist cat.