The California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies published research this week showing that China has built a prototype nuclear reactor that could be installed on large surface ships. This shows that China is making progress toward building a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
Currently, only the United States and France have nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The United States has 11 of them, and France has one flagship. charles de gaulle.
China has three aircraft carriers, including one of an aging Russian design commissioned in 2012. Liaoning province. The most interesting of the three ships is Fujian province, launched In 2022, it is eerily named after the Chinese province opposite Taiwan.
of fujian province is domestically built, much more advanced than the other two airlines, and approaches the capabilities of U.S. airlines in several important ways, despite being significantly smaller than U.S. airlines. Masu. Nimitz and Gerald R. Ford-class ships. one of Fujian province The most important feature is that instead of the disastrous “ski slope” launch ramps on the bows of older Chinese aircraft carriers, they use catapults to launch planes, much like American carriers.
of fujian province Sea trials will begin in May 2024. People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) claim In September 2024, an electromagnetic launch catapult was successfully tested. Assuming trials continue to be successful, it will likely be declared “operational” within the next two years.
Military analysts are currently paying close attention to China's military actions. 4th career, reportedly It was under construction before fujian province Sea trials have begun. A fourth aircraft carrier could be nuclear-powered. If not, there could be a fifth and sixth, as China has announced plans to have six aircraft carriers in service by 2035.
This would be an important advance. This is because conventionally powered aircraft carriers are primarily seen as defensive platforms, whereas nuclear-powered aircraft carriers have longer ranges and extended deployment times, making them more viable offensive weapons.
According to the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, China work An accident occurred at an aircraft carrier nuclear reactor located at a suspicious facility in the mountains on the outskirts of Leshan, a city in southwestern Sichuan province.
Middlebury researchers initially suspected the Leshan facility was a nuclear reactor designed to produce weapons-grade plutonium or tritium. Middlebury Institute used satellite imagery, as well as data from the facility's project requirements, personnel files, and environmental impact studies, to determine that the facility was likely a prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface ship.
Researchers say, among other evidence, the facility is controlled by the China Atomic Energy Research Institute and that some of the equipment requisitions were issued by a unit called the 701 Institute, which is dedicated to developing aircraft carrier technology. He pointed out that.
Several documents indicate that the Leshan project is for “national defense,” increasing confidence that the project is developing nuclear-powered aircraft carrier technology.
“Unless China is developing a nuclear-powered cruiser, which was pursued only by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, a nuclear-powered project would definitely refer to an effort to develop a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier,” the Middlebury Institute said. said. said.
Some analysts doubt whether China really needs We would never attack a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for any reason other than national prestige or bragging rights. China's naval strategy is primarily concerned with: dominate Three strategic island chains, the first of which includes the South China Sea, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
Conventionally powered aircraft carriers, supported by China's vast infrastructure of land and island missile batteries and airfields, are sufficient to achieve these objectives. Investing large sums of money to develop a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier seems like a wasted effort, especially considering that the People's Liberation Army Navy still has a long way to go before its conventionally powered aircraft carriers can rival the U.S. Navy.
