All of China’s nuclear targets on aircraft carriers

12 October 20222 years ago babelfish

Because China aims to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The article by Giuseppe Gagliano

China aims to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to protect its growing strategic interests overseas.

This month, the S outh China Morning Post reported that analysts believe its Fujian aircraft carrier will likely be nuclear-powered.

It is not the first time that China has expressed its ambitions to build a nuclear-powered carrier. This May, the Asia Times reported that in February 2018, the CSSC began developing a nuclear carrier that would help the PLA Navy by 2025.

The report also cites a Popular Science article mentioning a CSSC leak that appears to show a model of the planned Chinese nuclear carrier, tentatively designated "Type 003".

Leaked CSSC details state that the new class will “move between ninety thousand and one hundred thousand tons and will have electromagnetically assisted launch system (EMALS) catapults to take planes off the bridge. It will likely carry a large J-15 fighter air wing, J-31 stealth fighters, KJ-600 early warning and control aircraft, antisubmarine war helicopters and stealth attack drones.

The Chinese nuclear carrier, in partnership with type 055 cruisers and next-generation submarines, would have the potential to become a formidable force for global missions. Those specifications put China's planned nuclear carrier on par with current US aircraft carriers, at least in theory.

The South China Morning Post report points out that China has completed design work for its fourth carrier, expected between 2025 and 2027. However, military sources to date have stated that it will be conventionally powered.

As we know so far, only the United States and France operate nuclear carriers, with the United States using the Nimitz and Ford classes and the French deploying the Charles de Gaulle.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/cina-portaerei-nucleare/ on Wed, 12 Oct 2022 05:13:53 +0000.