PLAN Aircraft Carrier programme...(Closed)

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AndrewS

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High frequency launches is only one element.

Sustained operations is also very important as nuclear power allows carriers to have more range and aviation fuel, but it still means the Nimitz can only conduct 16 days of continuous flight operations.

From a cost versus performance perspective, remember that US Navy studies keep emphasising bigger carriers (as hull volume to store fuel/weapons is cheap) and nuclear power for greater range / hull volume.

Plus reactors mean a lot of electrical power available for defensive lasers in the future.
 
Blitzo

Blitzo

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Iron Man said:
What do you guys think the odds of nuclear power on the 002 are? I personally think it's a fair to good chance we will see one. This would provide the EM cats with plenty of power especially in conjunction with an IEP. It's not like the PLAN doesn't have experience with naval nuclear plants; the 091 through 094 subs have given them plenty of insight already. It's just a matter of scaling up the technology. And really they don't even have to scale up in the short to medium term if that tech isn't ready but they still want nuke carriers. The USN's first nuclear carrier (Enterprise) used 8 nuclear plants that shared the same ancestry as the ones used on their first nuclear submarine (Nautilus). So if PLAN wants a nuclear carrier, I'm fairly certain they could build one at this point.
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002 will almost definitely be conventionally powered... not nuclear powered.
 
Blitzo

Blitzo

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Iron Man said:
Unless you're an insider, you know as much (or as little) as anyone else. Are you an insider, one of those "big shrimps"?
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Of course not, but we keep up to date with the big shrimps, and it has been consistently said that 002 will be a conventionally powered ship, not nuclear.

It may be nice to hope that 002 could have a chance to be nuclear powered, but we do not have any indications from the insiders that it will be the case.
 
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Iron Man

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Bltizo said:
Of course not, but we keep up to date with the big shrimps, and it has been consistently said that 002 will be a conventionally powered ship, not nuclear.

It may be nice to hope that 002 could have a chance to be nuclear powered, but we do not have any indications from the insiders that it will be the case.
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That's too bad, because I don't see any technical reason that 002 couldn't be nuclear at this point. We'll see I guess. I think this would be a case of PLAN playing it more safely than they have to.
 
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antiterror13

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Iron Man said:
That's too bad, because I don't see any technical reason that 002 couldn't be nuclear at this point. We'll see I guess. I think this would be a case of PLAN playing it more safely than they have to.
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welll, I would be happy enough if 002 is not nuclear bus gas turbine powered as long as IEPS. I think the chance of IEPS on 002 is quite high. Time will tell ... we will know mid or late next year 2017
 
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delft

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PLAN has much to little experience in building and operating flattops to go to nuclear propulsion. I guess that a nuclear powered aircraft carrier asks a large investment in the ship yard that is best delayed and an increase in building time for the ship while they want their investment to provide experience in operating flattops. The main function of Chinese aircraft carriers must be defensive unlike those of USN that are always used in support of US policy or even "instead of US policy" according to some as there is no threat to the US themselves. Clear technical factors that must lead to delaying the use of nuclear power in Chinese ships to flattop number three or four or even later.
 
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antiterror13

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delft said:
PLAN has much to little experience in building and operating flattops to go to nuclear propulsion. I guess that a nuclear powered aircraft carrier asks a large investment in the ship yard that is best delayed and an increase in building time for the ship while they want their investment to provide experience in operating flattops. The main function of Chinese aircraft carriers must be defensive unlike those of USN that are always used in support of US policy or even "instead of US policy" according to some as there is no threat to the US themselves. Clear technical factors that must lead to delaying the use of nuclear power in Chinese ships to flattop number three or four or even later.
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Very good point indeed ... the purpose of Chinese CBG is quite different than USN
 
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Iron Man

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antiterror13 said:
Very good point indeed ... the purpose of Chinese CBG is quite different than USN
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While it may be true that the PLAN wants more experience with carrier ops before committing to a nuclear carrier, it is certainly not the case that carriers are "defensive", whether they are Chinese or American. Carriers are the ultimate expression of power projection, and as such a nuclear carrier is the ultimate expression of the carrier concept. There is no realistic scenario where China would use a carrier group defensively. They are meant to go to distant places like the Straits of Malacca, the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the second island chain, etc., and in the future all over the world. Notably, those are places that shore-based PLAAF/PLANAF aircraft cannot easily reach to strike targets or provide air cover for warships.
 
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delft

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Iron Man said:
While it may be true that the PLAN wants more experience with carrier ops before committing to a nuclear carrier, it is certainly not the case that carriers are "defensive", whether they are Chinese or American. Carriers are the ultimate expression of power projection, and as such a nuclear carrier is the ultimate expression of the carrier concept. There is no realistic scenario where China would use a carrier group defensively. They are meant to go to distant places like the Straits of Malacca, the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the second island chain, etc., and in the future all over the world. Notably, those are places that shore-based PLAAF/PLANAF aircraft cannot easily reach to strike targets or provide air cover for warships.
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Armed forces operate within the political context of their owners as well as in the World their owners live. China and US are very different countries and US is now a hegemon, a position that was approached but not achieved by the British Empire and that will never be reached by China even were the US to disappear because there are and will be too many other powerful countries in the world.
 
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