PLAN Carrier Strike Group and Airwing

Re: Ideal chinese carrier thread

She's a trimaran like most of my designs

Imagine this but bigger and as a flat-top:



The hull ratios are a bit different (less slender) and the sides are canted outwards to maximise width.

I don't think it'd fit through either the Suez or the Panama canals but I don't think that's a huge deal for China. I see PLAN's carriers operating in Pacific and Indian ocean and only ever venturing into Atlantic on goodwill visits.

Mooring is a problem but there are plenty of berths in China that big and she's nuclear anyway so theoretically could remain at sea for protracted periods (not necessarily economically obviously).


Heavily armed? not really that different from anything else. Just MR-SAM (like ESSM or Aster-15) and CIWS and ASW rockets for self-defense.

Re: Ideal chinese carrier thread

She's a trimaran like most of my designs

Imagine this but bigger and as a flat-top:



The hull ratios are a bit different (less slender) and the sides are canted outwards to maximise width.

I don't think it'd fit through either the Suez or the Panama canals but I don't think that's a huge deal for China. I see PLAN's carriers operating in Pacific and Indian ocean and only ever venturing into Atlantic on goodwill visits.

Mooring is a problem but there are plenty of berths in China that big and she's nuclear anyway so theoretically could remain at sea for protracted periods (not necessarily economically obviously).


Heavily armed? not really that different from anything else. Just MR-SAM (like ESSM or Aster-15) and CIWS and ASW rockets for self-defense.

Re: Ideal chinese carrier thread

She's a trimaran like most of my designs

Imagine this but bigger and as a flat-top:



The hull ratios are a bit different (less slender) and the sides are canted outwards to maximise width.

I don't think it'd fit through either the Suez or the Panama canals but I don't think that's a huge deal for China. I see PLAN's carriers operating in Pacific and Indian ocean and only ever venturing into Atlantic on goodwill visits.

Mooring is a problem but there are plenty of berths in China that big and she's nuclear anyway so theoretically could remain at sea for protracted periods (not necessarily economically obviously).


Heavily armed? not really that different from anything else. Just MR-SAM (like ESSM or Aster-15) and CIWS and ASW rockets for self-defense.

Re: Ideal chinese carrier thread

With a few aircraft dotted around for scaling. Hanger deck is approx 100m wide and about 180m long in main area.



As you can see the starboard and central lifts serve both levels. The central lift is much less disruptive of flight operations than olden-days ones because the flight deck is that much wider.

Harbin makes Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets. A shortened fuselage, folding wings, new landing gear and internal rearrangements and you have a good basis for a balance-beam AEW system, and also a tanker, transport and MP variants.


Something this size would be better suited but does China make a suitable base-type?


Or if you wanted to go lighter, a Harbin Y-12 with searchwater or lighter balance-bar might look not unlike this:

Re: Ideal chinese carrier thread

With a few aircraft dotted around for scaling. Hanger deck is approx 100m wide and about 180m long in main area.



As you can see the starboard and central lifts serve both levels. The central lift is much less disruptive of flight operations than olden-days ones because the flight deck is that much wider.

Harbin makes Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets. A shortened fuselage, folding wings, new landing gear and internal rearrangements and you have a good basis for a balance-beam AEW system, and also a tanker, transport and MP variants.


Something this size would be better suited but does China make a suitable base-type?


Or if you wanted to go lighter, a Harbin Y-12 with searchwater or lighter balance-bar might look not unlike this:

Re: Ideal chinese carrier thread

With a few aircraft dotted around for scaling. Hanger deck is approx 100m wide and about 180m long in main area.



As you can see the starboard and central lifts serve both levels. The central lift is much less disruptive of flight operations than olden-days ones because the flight deck is that much wider.

Harbin makes Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets. A shortened fuselage, folding wings, new landing gear and internal rearrangements and you have a good basis for a balance-beam AEW system, and also a tanker, transport and MP variants.


Something this size would be better suited but does China make a suitable base-type?


Or if you wanted to go lighter, a Harbin Y-12 with searchwater or lighter balance-bar might look not unlike this:

Re: Ideal chinese carrier thread

planeman said:

I think that the USN is making a compromise, which in their mind is optimum. But clearly if you can store 100% of your regular air-wing below decks that's a huge benefit. This also means that aircraft carriers like CDG and Admiral Kuznetsov can actually operate with almost twice the number of aircraft in "surge" capacity conditions such as war.

Click to expand...

Experience has proved that carriers can only effectively handle no more than 90 aircraft at a single time, due to airspace, deck, and command and control constrictions.

Re: Ideal chinese carrier thread

planeman said:

I think that the USN is making a compromise, which in their mind is optimum. But clearly if you can store 100% of your regular air-wing below decks that's a huge benefit. This also means that aircraft carriers like CDG and Admiral Kuznetsov can actually operate with almost twice the number of aircraft in "surge" capacity conditions such as war.

Click to expand...

Experience has proved that carriers can only effectively handle no more than 90 aircraft at a single time, due to airspace, deck, and command and control constrictions.

Re: Ideal chinese carrier thread

planeman said:

I think that the USN is making a compromise, which in their mind is optimum. But clearly if you can store 100% of your regular air-wing below decks that's a huge benefit. This also means that aircraft carriers like CDG and Admiral Kuznetsov can actually operate with almost twice the number of aircraft in "surge" capacity conditions such as war.

Click to expand...

Experience has proved that carriers can only effectively handle no more than 90 aircraft at a single time, due to airspace, deck, and command and control constrictions.

Re: Ideal chinese carrier thread

but experience in what technological age?