CV-18 Fujian/003 CATOBAR carrier thread

[Blitzo]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1400492953345220611

41.7 mwould be the top deck width, 40 m would be just below the stern opening, where the hangar deck level should be.

But do we have any reason to believe the stern opening corresponds to the hangar deck level?

After all, we have pictures showing us just how tall the stern opening is (not very, certainly not enough for an aircraft)...


and when looking at earlier rare pictures of the hangar modules being installed where not even the floor of the hangar is visible, the unable-to-visualize hangar deck floor would still correspond quite a bit lower than the stern opening as well, perhaps 2 decks lower.




That said, I do at least understand where you got the 41.7m number from.
The issue is I don't think we have any pictures so far that allows us to try and extrapolate the stern flight deck level width from the hangar deck level width, because we don't have any pictures that we can extrapolate the former convincingly from the latter.


But fortunately one thing we do definitively know is the width of the drydock (82 meters), and which there are enough pictures of both the stern flight deck level and said drydock....

I won't belabour the point furthe.r

 

[Paulo R Siqueira]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1400492953345220611

41.7 mwould be the top deck width, 40 m would be just below the stern opening, where the hangar deck level should be.

I have no doubts that the 003 will be the largest carrier in history. The Panama Canal limits the width of the Us Navy Aircraft Carriers. PLAN does not have this limitation. Dock width between 80 and 82 meters without error determines the size of the flight deck.

 

[Blitzo]

I have no doubts that the 003 will be the largest carrier in history. The Panama Canal limits the width of the Us Navy Aircraft Carriers. PLAN does not have this limitation. Dock width between 80 and 82 meters without error determines the size of the flight deck.

That's not the way it works...

And even without knowing the exact final dimensions of 003 at this stage, we can conclusively say that it will not be the largest carrier in history.

 

[Paulo R Siqueira]

Não é assim que funciona ...

E mesmo sem sabermos as dimensões finais exatas de 003 nesta fase, podemos afirmar de forma conclusiva que não será a maior transportadora da história.

Not the biggest, but the widest(beam, flight deck).

 

[Blitzo]

Not the biggest, but the widest(beam, flight deck).

We certainly do not have the evidence to suggest that will be the case either.

By the way, US supercarriers are not designed with the intention to transit through the Panama canal.
They cannot transit the Panama canal because they are too large.

 

[Deino]

I have no doubts that the 003 will be the largest carrier in history. The Panama Canal limits the width of the Us Navy Aircraft Carriers. PLAN does not have this limitation. Dock width between 80 and 82 meters without error determines the size of the flight deck.

You are joking and simply forgot a certain emoji? Otherwise I can only ask you to do a reality-check since you will be heavily disappointed.

Or do you rely this on a certain Indian "analyst" claiming the 003 carrier to be about 380m long?

 

[Paulo R Siqueira]

We certainly do not have the evidence to suggest that will be the case either.

By the way, US supercarriers are not designed with the intention to transit through the Panama canal.
They cannot transit the Panama canal because they are too large.

We certainly do not have the evidence to suggest that will be the case either.

By the way, US supercarriers are not designed with the intention to transit through the Panama canal.
They cannot transit the Panama canal because they are too large.

As I read, the Nimitz Class can cross the Panama Canal after the latest modifications have been made. But they aren't currently doing that.

 

[Blitzo]

I'd just like to point out that these alleged 003 dimensions don't necessarily have to mesh with reality. This twitter post claims 44.5 m wide stern section without sponsons. Yet when measured in Google Earth, the width of that section is some 40 m.

If indeed the GE measuring tool is more precise, then all those discrepancies will add up and the final dimensions may then be visibly different from what the rest of that twitter post suggests.

Just btw, the OP explained the 44.5m beam measurement.

It was based off this satellite pic from early May, where the stern central hull was complete to the flight deck level and the quality of the image and perspective was adequate to use the width of the drydock as a known quantity.

 

[Kejora]

Just btw, the OP explained the 44.5m beam measurement.

It was based off this satellite pic from early May, where the stern central hull was complete to the flight deck level and the quality of the image and perspective was adequate to use the width of the drydock as a known quantity.

View attachment 72984

It seems the waterline dimension (300m×40m) is very close to Kitty Hawk but the flight deck's width (72m) is closer to Nimitz, any indication about the length? Will it be shorter or longer than Kitty Hawk's 326m.

 

[Gloire_bb]

The only thing is a 75,000 ton carrier might be very slightly cheaper than a 90,000 ton carrier, but it will be significantly less capable. I don’t see the Chinese pinching nickels and dimes on this.

Significant and slightly are subjective. Many view American 100'000t supercarriers as products of era w/o challenge in a carrier domain.
For example, if we rule out peacetime usage, will those thousands of tons make for a qualitatively different unit?

We aren't talking battleships here, in strategic calculus, all 3(75 and 90 conventionals, 100 nuclear) will be in the supercarrier category and will be counted as such. If, however, lesser units can ultimately give you more hulls in a calculus - that counts for something.

Just for an additional measurement point - nuclear(i.e. noticeably less weight-efficient) Ulyanovsk, in spite of full Soviet array of missile weapons, was intended to carry up to 64 fixed-wing a/c, including 60 heavy fighters(Su-33/S-37, read - J-15) and 4 AEWs. At 80'000t.

It can be reasonably expected that conventional 003 will be able to provide more.