So that basically confirmed that Fujian would have sea trials this year. Great!
CV-18 Fujian/003 CATOBAR carrier thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Probably first around 2nd half of the year, possibly 4th quarter.
Still faster than many predicted, but overall shouldn't be that surprising. It's China we're talking about, so with more money/resources/personel dedicated, it shouldn't be surprising that sea trials can be started within 12 months, as opposed to how fitting out for US carriers take a longer time.
Still faster than many predicted, but overall shouldn't be that surprising. It's China we're talking about, so with more money/resources/personel dedicated, it shouldn't be surprising that sea trials can be started within 12 months, as opposed to how fitting out for US carriers take a longer time.
Anhui 33 LHDCarrier Fujian and a Type 075 (Guangxi?) moored in the same basin.
Nice! Was this from a Weibo post? Mind if you post the link here? Would like to see it for myself.
There are no signs of new construction. And we don't know if they will wait for sea trials of 003 or not. There were rumors the original carrier construction plan would involve building two conventional CATOBAR carriers before the introduction of the nuclear powered ones. But right now what will happen is unknown. I thought they would be simultaneously building one carrier at Dalian and another at Shanghai and that clearly did not happen.
China does not need nuclear powered ACs, because China is not invading the Middle East or Africa. At the same time, China does not have nearly enough the military bases around the world to support long term deployment. Just because the AC has nuclear power, does not mean all the destroyers have magical power source.
A war in Taiwan does not require nuclear powered ACs. So it is all cost, very little benefit.
Logically it would make sense if they build 2 more 003 simultaneously at Dalian and Jiangnan to acquire and retain skills needed for 004.