Hypothetical conventional CATOBAR carriers for export.

Not an expert, but there is not a lot of customer countries that are advanced enough to buy a whole aircraft carrier, let alone maintain it and use it competently. Too much input for too little return.

I could see it benefitting countries like Pakistan or maybe Iran in some capacity

H2O said:

Maybe with the exception of the UAE, the rest on that list simply don't have the budget for carriers. Remember, there is a lot more to it than just acquiring a carrier with fighters (i.e. infrastructure, supporting equipment, economy, etc...). Look at what China have done in building up their carrier fleets to give you an idea on how complicated and expensive it is; and they're not done yet.

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Extra relevant now that Indonesia potentially is buying several dozen J10C.

In 15-20 years, the Catobar I proposed would be an attractive replace for the Garibali.

A study on a 50k tons conventional carrier, found by SOYO

He thinks it's just an academic simulation model

Twin catapult

Tomboy said:

View attachment 167464
Twin catapult

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This is the old Fujian design, different from the one I posted

00CuriousObserver said:

A study on a 50k tons conventional carrier, found by SOYO

He thinks it's just an academic simulation model

View attachment 167463

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307 meters of overall length is only slightly longer than the STOBAR twins (~305 meters), however the overall (flight deck) width of 84.5 meters is about a whole 10 meters greater than that of the STOBAR twins (~74.5 meters). Meanwhile, the draft looks to be similar to the STOBAR twins.

Moreover, given the adoption of (supposed) two EMCATs would mean that this hypothetical carrier would be somewhat heavier than the STOBAR twins, in addition to the much wider flight deck (= greater volume). I seriously doubt the full-load displacement would stay in the 50000-ton range like the STOBAR twins. Somewhere around 60000-70000 tons actually sounds much more probable.

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Of course, this paper might just be an academic exercise meant to explore Shilao's "拔了舰岛，铲了滑跃" quote/meme on the STOBAR twins, and could very well not be meaningful for any future developments of the PLAN CV fleet.

I sense we're seeing a lot more academic papers by students or graduates floating around, that have no bearing on any official procurement history.

00CuriousObserver said:

A study on a 50k tons conventional carrier, found by SOYO

He thinks it's just an academic simulation model

View attachment 167463

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In case anyone is wondering, that excerpt is sourced from this academic paper titled 复杂海况下航母纵向运动及舰载机起降CFD模拟
(CFD Simulation of Aircraft Carrier Longitudinal Motion and Aircraft Takeoff/Landing under Complex Sea Conditions.) Posted by Captain on Weibo.

(Well, the paper used a generic F/A-18 model for simulation. So, eh, make of it what you will.)