China’s next aircraft carrier: nuclear-power speculation continues
- A state shipbuilding company has previously said the country must be able to achieve a breakthrough in the technology by 2027
- Some analysts believe that a nuclear-propelled carrier is the logical next step for the country’s military development
China State Shipbuilding Corporation has previously said that it needs to achieve a breakthrough in nuclear-powered technology by 2027.
But an article in the Wave of South China Sea, a military affairs social media account, said there had still been no official announcement that the shipyards responsible for building carriers have been given the necessary permission, and it was debatable whether China could acquire the technology to build them.
The article also said a diesel-powered vessel would be more suited to China’s development.
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What is known about the Fujian, China’s first home-designed aircraft carrier
The Fujian, which was launched in June, is by far China’s biggest, most modern and most powerful aircraft carrier.
Conventionally powered aircraft carriers need less maintenance and are cheaper to build compared with nuclear-propelled vessels. But nuclear-powered aircraft carriers have a longer range and are better for catapult-launch systems because their reactors can increase the speed and range of the carrier and produce steam to power the catapults.
So far only the United States and France have nuclear carriers – the American Nimitz and Gerald R Ford class ships, and the French flagship, the Charles de Gaulle.
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Chinese navy practises aerial combat as it prepares its newest aircraft carrier for operations
Malcolm Davis, a senior security analyst from the Canberra-based Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said China’s next aircraft carrier was most likely to be nuclear-powered for two reasons.
“China wants to have a world-class navy … and part of that status is achieving long-range power projection capability,” he said.
“A conventional carrier requires all sorts of underway logistics support including replenishment ships and ideally forward bases to sustain carrier operations, whereas nuclear powered carriers don’t need nearly as much forward support.
“So from a practical and operational perspective, I think the Chinese will transition to nuclear carriers reasonably quickly,” said Davis, adding the nuclear power also gives the carrier greater power to operate advanced systems.
“A nuclear carrier is a prestige asset, and it’s hard to see the Chinese navy as ‘world class’ without either nuclear carriers or nuclear-powered submarines, which the Chinese navy is already deploying.
“Nuclear carriers make a great deal of sense operationally, and in global prestige terms, and would reinforce the perception of the Chinese navy as a naval force for a global superpower,” he added.
China has also developed a naval nuclear reactor for both its attack and ballistic missile submarines.
“If the next carrier is still conventionally powered, then I’d find it difficult to believe the one after that wouldn’t be nuclear,” Davis said.
China’s Shandong carrier group trains in South China Sea
Brad Martin, a senior policy researcher at the US think tank Rand Corporation, also said the next carrier would probably be nuclear-powered.
“The designs for the Chinese navy’s future carriers involve such systems as the electromagnetic aircraft launching system, which requires significant electrical power generation capacity, which would be difficult for a conventional power aircraft carrier to provide,” Martin said.
“The [PLA Navy] also operates nuclear-powered submarines and so has experience operating such systems, and thus I conclude that its future carrier fleet would likely be nuclear-powered.”
When asked about plans for future aircraft carriers in July, China’s defence ministry said such plans would be made according to China’s national security, needs and abilities.
