Satellite view of China's secretive next-generation carrier
China's fourth aircraft carrier, known as Type 004, is taking shape at the Dalian shipyard, a next-generation vessel built for power projection with potential nuclear propulsion and cutting-edge electromagnetic launch technology, The War Zone reported.
Recently published satellite imagery from May 2024 shows a module consistent with a flight deck and advanced catapult system for launching aircraft, including the J-15 and Z-8 helicopter mockups seen nearby in the images.
The module may be a test or demonstrator segment judging by procedural assembly norms and the presence of mockups previously used for other carriers. The shipyard, known for constructing China's earlier Type 001 Liaoning and Type 002 Shandong carriers, supports the ongoing naval expansion.
The potentially nuclear-powered Type 004 represents a significant step in China's carrier capabilities. It features an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), similar to the US Navy's Ford class, which is gentler on airframes, has a faster recharge rate for more sorties, and can launch heavier and more varieties of aircraft.
Those aircraft may include the J-15 with more fuel and munitions and the propeller-driven KJ-600 carrier-based airborne warning and control (AEW&C). If so, it could make China's carrier air wings resemble those of the US.
However, Louis Bearn and Nick Childs mention in a November 2024 International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) article that China must still learn the complexities of catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) carrier operations.
Bearn and Childs note that, at the time of their writing, the trials of China's first EMALS-equipped carrier, the conventionally powered Type 003 Fujian, appear to be at the stage of familiarizing the crew with the ship's operations and technologies.
They note that the US Navy took six years for its first EMALS-equipped carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, to go to sea and become fully operational.
Whether Type 004 will be conventional or nuclear-powered is unclear, with arguments for each power plant option.
In November 2024, the Associated Press (AP) reported that China had developed a land-based prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface warship, referencing satellite photos of a large facility outside Leshan in Sichuan province.
Further, Reuben Johnson mentions in a 1945 article this month that the prototype reactor may not be deployed on China's upcoming Type 004 and Type 005 carriers but on its Type 006 carrier. Johnson says the propulsion system aboard China's Type 006 would not be apparent until 2026 or early 2027.
Interestingly, Johnson notes that China developed a new nuclear reactor for its aircraft carrier instead of repurposing existing reactors, such as those that power its Type 093 nuclear attack submarines (SSN) and Type 094 nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBN).
He suggests that China might have learned from France's experience of modifying nuclear reactor designs for its Triomphant SSBNs, Barracuda SSNs and Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier, where the modified design failed to meet specific performance requirements.
However, Asia Times has previously noted that China's Type 004 will likely be nuclear-powered. Given that China already operates nuclear-powered submarines, a nuclear-powered carrier would provide long-range power projection without the need for forward operating bases or replenishment ships, serve as a major prestige asset for China and generate the necessary power for China's EMALS technology.
The Type 003 Fujian may provide some clues as to the specifications of China's possible Type 004 carrier, as China has followed an evolutionary approach to carrier design.
This approach is apparent as China started its carrier fleet by finishing the Soviet-era Varyag hulk into the Type 001 Liaoning, built the improved Type 002 Shandong and took a significant design leap with the Type 003 Fujian.
According to Naval Technology, the Type 003 Fujian may have an 80,000-ton displacement, making it comparable to the US Kitty Hawk-class carrier, the last class of conventionally powered US carriers.
Naval Technology also says the Type 003 Fujian could carry around 50-60 aircraft, including J-15 and J-35 fighters alongside KJ-600 AEW&C.
The report mentions that China's Type 004 will likely be a larger iteration of the Type 003 Fujian, which may be nuclear-powered and have a 100,000-ton displacement, rivaling the USS Nimitz and Ford-class supercarriers.
In terms of capabilities, Maya Carlin mentions in The National Interest (TNI) this month that while the EMALS technology aboard China's Type 003 Fujian may be on par with its US counterparts, US carriers can carry up to 75 aircraft versus an estimated maximum of 60 for China's.
Carlin also notes that the US has 11 nuclear-powered carriers, while China has only three conventionally powered ones. However, she notes that China is determined to meet or exceed the US Navy's capabilities in the future.
While there are varying estimates on how many carriers China aims to build and how many of them would be nuclear-powered, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) mentioned in February 2019 that China aims to have six carriers by 2035, four of which will be nuclear-powered.
China could use its conventionally powered carriers, such as the Type 001 Liaoning, Type 002 Shandong and Type 003 Fujian, to blockade Taiwan and control the First Island Chain, stretching from Japan to Taiwan and the Philippines.
Conventional power limits the operational range of these carriers, forcing them to operate relatively close to China for resupply and refueling.
However, nuclear-powered carriers would not face that limitation and would be able China to project power up to the Second Island Chain, spanning the Bonin and Volcano Islands, the Marianas Islands, the Caroline Islands and up to Western New Guinea in the Pacific.
These carriers could also operate under a 'missile umbrella' consisting of DF-21 and DF-26 anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) based on the Chinese mainland, preventing a disastrous carrier-on-carrier clash with the US akin to the Battle of Midway during World War II, wherein Japan lost four fleet carriers and the strategic initiative in the Pacific Theater.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asia Times
a day ago
- Asia Times
Trial by fire: Chinese laser weapon reputedly in Russian service
China's battlefield lasers have arrived in Ukraine and may soon shape a drone-saturated future war over Taiwan. Last month, The War Zone (TWZ) reported that Russia has reportedly deployed a Chinese laser weapon system to counter Ukrainian drones, according to pro-Russian Telegram sources. A video posted this May shows a system resembling China's Shen Nung 3000/5000 anti-drone laser, previously supplied to Iran. The footage depicts Russian troops operating the system from a vehicle, followed by its deployment and engagement of aerial targets, including drones visibly catching fire midair. The Nomad special forces unit is reportedly utilizing the system, with Russian analysts deeming it a significant advancement over previous counter-drone technologies. While the exact specifications remain unclear, experts suggest that the system is a variant of the Low-Altitude Laser Defending System (LASS) manufactured by China's Academy of Engineering Physics. The incident underscores deepening military cooperation between Russia, China and Iran, raising concerns over China's expanding arms exports amid ongoing conflicts. China has denied direct involvement and claims neutrality. The video's emergence comes amid broader developments in laser air defense technology, including Israel's Iron Beam system, deployed against Hezbollah drones. The effectiveness of laser-based weapons remains debated due to environmental limitations and operational challenges, but their increasing field use signals ongoing adaptation in modern warfare. Looking at the promise of laser weapons, Ian Boyd mentions in a March 2024 article for The Conversation that laser weapons promise speed-of-light engagement, precision targeting, and an 'infinite magazine' as long as power is available. Boyd highlights their advantages, including low cost per shot, minimal logistical footprint, and adaptability across land, sea, air, and space platforms. However, he also points out their drawbacks, such as high power demands, cooling requirements and environmental limitations, including fog, rain and smoke. Those advantages could have been decisive in US operations against Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. Lara Seligman and Matt Berg note in a December 2023 Politico article that the US has used multi-million, hard-to-replace interceptor missiles to intercept Houthi suicide drones that cost US$20,000 at most. In that situation, they point out that the cost-benefit analysis favors the Houthis, with high interceptor missile costs, long missile production times and limited ship magazines all working against the US. Further, laser weapons might have mitigated some of the damage in Ukraine's recent audacious drone swarm attack on Russian airfields and bombers. While Russia deployed countermeasures, such as blast walls, decoys, air defense systems and improvised defenses, including placing tires on bomber wings to confuse image-matching systems, these have yielded mixed results at best. Building hardened aircraft shelters (HAS) may not have been an option for Russia, given the size of its bomber aircraft, and that doing so could spark a nuclear miscalculation between the US and Russia. While Russia has suspended its participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 3), it still complies with its terms in practice by keeping its bombers out in the open, allowing for US satellite and inspection-based verification. While US airbases in the Pacific lack hardening, the US hardening its airbases could be interpreted by Russia or China as preparation for nuclear war or a more aggressive nuclear posture, with negative implications for strategic stability. Lessons learned from the Russia-Ukraine War could inform China's doctrine in deploying laser weapons during a Taiwan Strait conflict. Highlighting the possibility of drone swarms being used against China, US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said in a July 2024 Washington Post interview that he intends to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned 'hellscape' to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. 'I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,' he said. 'So that I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything.' According to USNI News in January 2025, the US Department of Defense's (DOD) Replicator initiative is advancing toward its August 2025 milestone, aiming to deploy lethal swarms of unmanned vehicles linked by integrated software. The report states that the first tranche of the Replicator initiative, initially launched in 2023, focuses on surface and subsurface drones and loitering munitions to deter a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan. It says that the second tranche, announced in 2024, prioritizes counter-drone capabilities. As to how the US could use Replicator drone swarms to defeat a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, Stacie Pettyjohn and other writers mention in a June 2024 Center for a New American Security (CNAS) report that swarms of low-cost, long-range suicide drones can overwhelm Chinese naval forces and disrupt amphibious landings. Pettyjohn and others say that these autonomous systems when paired with advanced surveillance drones, would rapidly close kill chains by identifying targets and guiding precision strikes. They add that pre-positioned drones in Taiwan could accelerate early response, while layered counter-drone defenses would blunt China's swarms. A January 2025 Defense News report stated that while the Replicator initiative has received bipartisan support, concerns persist over funding, scalability, and long-term viability. The report states that industry leaders argue that without increased investment, Replicator will fall short of its goal to field thousands of autonomous systems rapidly. While Defense News notes that congressional aides expect modifications rather than cancellation, the program's trajectory hinges on changes in leadership at the US DOD. It mentions that analysts warn that without sustained momentum, Replicator may struggle to deliver the transformative impact envisioned at its launch. China is taking the threat seriously. Defense One reported in May 2025 that aside from the Shen Nung 3000/5000 anti-drone laser, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) has developed the LW-30 and LW-60, which offer vehicle-mounted interception with AI-driven automation. Additionally, Defense One reports that China has developed a breakthrough cooling system, which enables continuous laser operation by eliminating heat buildup—a longstanding challenge to the effectiveness of laser weapons. The report states that these advancements underscore China's commitment to reducing its reliance on costly missile interceptors while enhancing precision and operational efficiency. By testing its lasers in foreign wars, China is quietly mastering the weapons it may one day unleash in the Taiwan Strait.
Asia Times
19-05-2025
- Asia Times
Kashmir air clash heralds rise of system-of-systems warfare
The April 2025 India-Pakistan air clashes were not just an air battle, but a masterclass in system-of-systems airpower—showing that in modern warfare, it's the network, not the jet, that wins, and Southeast Asia's mixed-fleet air forces should be paying close attention. At the tactical level, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Pakistan used an 'ABC system'—ground-based radars (A), fighter aircraft (B), and airborne warning systems (C)—to coordinate the detection and engagement of Indian aircraft, with J-10C fighters firing long-range missiles guided by Saab 2000 Erieye airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) planes. SCMP highlighted that this real-time data sharing among sensors, missile launchers, and battle managers marks a notable departure from traditional air combat, where individual jets managed detection and engagement separately. As to what ties this system together, Gaston Dubois mentions in an Aviacionline article that Pakistan's domestic Link-17 enabled the interconnection of combat platforms from diverse origins into a unified and coherent tactical network. Dubois says that this network-centric design enables the creation of a real-time operational overview, supports dynamic target allocation, and provides an advantage in decision-making against opponents who have disjointed information streams or inadequate system compatibility. He observes that while India has deployed over 70 aircraft, Pakistan has only 40; however, Pakistan optimized its combat effectiveness through an integrated system of sensors and data connections, allowing it to achieve informational dominance and shared situational awareness to leverage the capabilities of the PL-15E missile fully. This feat required Pakistan to execute a relatively complex kill chain, involving the detection, tracking, and engagement of targets, with evident success, says Fabian Hoffman in an article for The Spectator. Hoffman's observation highlights that Pakistan's edge in air combat came from the speed and cohesion of its decision-making network rather than just superior hardware or numbers. In an article for The China Academy, Wang Xiangsui and Charriot Zhai state that Pakistan's advantage lies in the simplification of its fighter aircraft fleet, comprising only six types and sourcing all fighter acquisitions from China since 2000. Conversely, they highlight that India operates fourteen types of fighters from five different nations, which significantly increases the complexity involved in integrating data links. Although the Indian Air Force (IAF) does not lag in the level of individual fighter designs, their Western and Russian avionics and missile technologies are incompatible. Consequently, Wang and Zhai mention that the fighters from France and Russia in India's arsenal occasionally struggle to communicate with one another and couldn't guide each other's missiles. This lack of interoperability exposes a downside of having a diverse range of platforms, which was once considered advantageous but now undermines the efficiency of networked combat. These operational lessons from the recent India-Pakistan air skirmishes reinforce the idea of operationalizing airpower as an ecosystem, rather than relying on individual platforms. In a June 2019 article for The Mitchell Forum, Peter Mattes mentions that an integrated air defense system (IADS) is composed of interdependent but diverse elements such as radars, command systems, communications networks, weapon platforms, and personnel, organized to perform surveillance, battle management, and weapons control. Mattes says that rather than acting independently, these components operate in a fused, parallel network enabled by modern communications and data fusion. He notes that fighter aircraft are not standalone assets but serve within this system to provide defensive counter-air capabilities, complementing surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and electronic warfare systems. He adds that their role is integrated alongside other elements to ensure layered, adaptive, and seamless air defense across domains. While Southeast Asian air forces have not yet operated within high-intensity system-of-systems environments, their procurement and planning decisions suggest they may be vulnerable to the same disjointed architectures that hindered India's airpower effectiveness during the Kashmir clash. In February 2025, Defense and Security Monitor (DSM) reported that Vietnam may be facing a significant challenge in replacing its Soviet-era Su-22 jets, as the Ukraine War has cast doubt on Russia's reliability as a supplier, and the performance of its aircraft leaves much to be desired. While Vietnam has reached an agreement with the US to buy 24 F-16 fighters, introducing the type into the Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF), which is built around Soviet and Russian aircraft, will require new training, maintenance, and logistics structures. These adjustments may result in serious interoperability problems. Maria Siow mentions in an April 2025 SCMP article that Vietnam's decision to purchase US F-16s was driven by the desire to gain leverage in trade talks with the US, rather than a strategic realignment away from Russia. Siow says that prior to 2022, Russia supplied 80% of Vietnam's armaments, and that while Vietnam is working to diversify its suppliers, the Vietnamese military continues to trust Russia more than the US. She notes it is unclear whether Vietnam will receive brand-new or second-hand F-16s, the latter being of questionable combat value against China's stealth fighters. She adds that the jets' high cost, the risk of a hostile Chinese response, and the appeal of lower-profile alternatives such as C-130 cargo planes all weigh against the deal. Siow also says that Vietnam has had no difficulties in acquiring Russian spare parts, making the prospect of acquiring F-16s even less likely. India's loss of Rafale fighters may have prompted Indonesia to rethink its purchase of 42 jets of that type, in a sale worth USD 8.1 billion. That purchase would add to the hodgepodge nature of its fighter fleet, consisting of F-16s, Su-27s, and Su-30s. Defending the Indonesian government's decision to purchase Rafale jets, Dave Laksono mentioned in an SCMP article that even the most capable fighter jets can be shot down or experience technical issues, while acknowledging that Pakistan's claims to have downed an Indian Rafale provide legitimate and constructive grounds for evaluation. Further, Chappy Hakim mentions in a Jakarta Post article that Indonesia's acquisition of Rafale aircraft does not automatically confer air superiority, but also requires a complete network of reconnaissance radars, early warning sensors, tracking systems, and an integrated command-and-control structure. Without this supporting architecture, adding another fighter type may bring diminishing returns. In the case of Malaysia, Defense News reported in September 2024 that the country is struggling to keep its 18 Su-30 MKM jets flying, and that Western sanctions have affected its ability to purchase spare parts from Russia. While Olli Suorsa states in a December 2024 Fulcrum article that the country plans to acquire ex-Kuwaiti F/A-18 jets as a stopgap measure, these aircraft represent aging technology and are older than the F/A-18s Malaysia has in service. He adds that having two F/A-18s from different generations could cause incompatibility with spare parts and increase maintenance complexity. In an age where airpower is defined by systems integration, Southeast Asian countries' failure to build cohesive air combat networks could turn their fighter fleets into expensive liabilities.
South China Morning Post
05-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Sixth-gen fighter could block airspace 1,000km from Chinese shore, military article says
In a future conflict over Taiwan, Beijing's sixth-generation fighter could block the airspace to foreign bases in Guam for up to two hours from 1,000km away, according to a mainland Chinese military magazine. Advertisement The goal involving the next-gen fighter was created in view of People's Liberation Army weaknesses against the American B-21 stealth bomber in a conflict within the first island chain, it said. The ginkgo leaf-shaped fighter is unofficially dubbed the J-36 and is in development by the PLA. According to the article in Shipborne Weapons, a publication owned by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, when the sixth-generation fighter is in service, the PLA will be able to intercept US warplanes trying to penetrate the first island chain. It said it would also be possible to conduct airspace blockades lasting one to two hours and to suppress the air defence of bases in Guam from a distance. 01:09 New Chinese fighter jet seen over Chengdu tacitly confirmed by military New Chinese fighter jet seen over Chengdu tacitly confirmed by military 'This will make it difficult for the US Navy and Air Force to maintain air superiority over the western Pacific and to intervene militarily in a series of operations by the Chinese military within the first island chain,' the analysis in the magazine's March edition said. Should they ever engage in a war over Taiwan, the mainland Chinese and US air forces would most likely focus on fighting for control of the airspace about 1,000km (621 miles) from the Chinese coast, the article said. In recent weeks, the Chinese stealth aircraft under development has been spotted repeatedly undergoing test flights near the base of its developer, the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation, suggesting it is making rapid progress. Advertisement In March, the US also announced its sixth-generation fighter, the F-47, but has revealed little further detail. However, the B-21 Raider – described as the world's first sixth-generation bomber by its developer Northrop Grumman – had its maiden flight in November 2023. The firm declared that production was 'ahead of schedule and on budget' and that it aimed to deliver at least 100 aircraft to the air force in the mid-2020s.
