Just at the end of November 2023, there was new news about our Fujian aircraft carrier, a paragraph aboutFujian aircraft carrier catapult trolleyAccording to this progress, it is estimated that the test work will be completed around December, andSea trials.
At the same time as the Type 003 aircraft carrier test, the Type 004 aircraft carrier-related work may also be underway, judging by some grapevine, this aircraft carrier orThe design has been completed
So will this Type 004 aircraft carrier be nuclear-powered?How soon will construction begin?
First of allType 004 aircraft carrier powerThe problem of it, according to the needs of the real situationThere is a certain probabilityfor nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
Why?Judging from the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, after the situation deteriorated, two US aircraft carriers quickly arrived in the Middle East in a very short period of time to support Israel.
China, as a great power, in this conflictThe sense of presence is obviously much lower
One of the important reasons for this is that our maritime defense forces are still insufficient, and the PLA Navy lacks ocean-going combat capabilities, which makes it impossible to pursue further interests.
Of course, this does not mean that we should meddle in other people's affairs like the United States, which is not in line with China's foreign exchange strategy and will also damage China's image.
Rather, it saidMy country has interests in the Middle East, China isOne of the world's largest consumers of oil,among othersMore than half of the oilYesImported from the Middle East.
Although we don't meddle in other people's affairs, butTaking into account the energy security of our country,Nor can the countries of the Middle East be allowed to mess around.
If the scale of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict expands, it will inevitably affect China's energy resources, and then hinder China's modernization process, which will also damage our interests.
At present, whether it is China's 055 destroyer or the Fujian aircraft carrier, the influence in the ocean-going regionNeitherThe American aircraft carrier is large.
If China is able to have a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier similar to the Fujian, then our country has itA powerful means of pursuing interests in the oceans.
In the past, we usually thought that at the pace of China's development, there would be no need to pursue ocean-going interests for a long time to come.
Therefore, many people believe that the Type 004 aircraft carrier is most likely the sister ship of the Fujian shipNuclear-powered aircraft carriers may be placed on the Type 005.
There is no problem with this statement, but China's development achievements over the years are beyond imagination, and China's demand for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers is increasing, and under this premise, the construction of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers is carried outIs it possible to advance it?
And from another point of view, China tooThere are technical conditions for the development of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
The appearance of the Fujian has proven that China has built large aircraft carriersProven technologyIn a few more years, it will not be a problem to build a 100,000-ton aircraft carrier like the USS Ford.
Speaking of the power plant of the Fujian aircraft carrier, it still uses itConventional steam propulsion,But as a conventional aircraft carrier with a displacement of more than 80,000 tons, its performance is already bright enough.
Now that China's power technology is already capable of driving the Fujian aircraft carrier, thenNuclear reactor technology should not be bad either.
The main difficulties of aircraft carrier nuclear reactors are:Three aspects,First, due to the fact that they are often carried out at sea, it is not possible to overhaul them at any time, as in the case of land-based nuclear power plants, such reactorsThe required stability is extremely high
Second,Compatibility of nuclear reactors and aircraft carrier power systemsHow to effectively combine the two to drive such a behemoth is also something that needs to be considered.
The third point,The problem of cooling nuclear reactors,At present, the United States nuclear-powered aircraft carriers generally use pressurized water reactors, which are not very efficient in cooling and are relatively cumbersome to operate.
For China, the stability of nuclear reactors and the cooling system should not be too much of a problem, the only thing to solve isHow to use nuclear reactors to drive aircraft carriers.
I believe that, judging from China's development achievements, it is inBreakthrough in the next few yearsThere is no big problem.
It can be seen from this that China has both the demand for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and the technical basis for building aircraft carriers, and there is no reason why we should not develop nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, so it is still possible to say that Type 004 is nuclear-powered.
There is another possibility, and that isThe Type 004 aircraft carrier is still conventionally poweredAppeared as a sister ship of the Fujian ship. And in the same period,Type 004 and Type 005 aircraft carrierswillConstruction started at the same timeto improve China's maritime defense forces in one fell swoop.
But anyway,Construction of the Type 004 aircraft carrier will begin around 2025The likelihood is relatively large.
On the one hand, the current sea trials of the Fujian aircraft carrier are imminent, and this sea trial mayIt lasts for about one yearbefore it can officially enter service with the PLA Navy.
When the Fujian ship is delivered, the relevant staff canThere is spare energy to build a new aircraft carrier, this time node is about 2025.
On the other hand, China's demand for aircraft carriers similar to the Fujian is still relatively large.
At present, Sino-US relations are relatively tense, and considering the possibility of conflict with the United States, a large-scale naval battle is inevitable.
China has a total of three aircraft carriers, but the only aircraft carrier group that can fight the United States head-on is the Fujian.
As for the Liaoning and Shandong, the overall combat strength cannot catch up with the US nuclear-powered aircraft carriersAt most, diversion is carried out on the front line.
And on the American side, there are a total of them11 aircraft carriersAlthough it is unlikely that all of them will be dispatched at once, it is still possible for China to face the five nuclear-powered aircraft carriers of the United States in the event of a full-scale conflict between China and the United States.
It is undeniable that our country also has a number of advanced ** such as 055 destroyers and anti-ship missiles to supplement combat power, butOr is it more reassuring to have an aircraft carrier.
Therefore, we must recognize that there is still a big gap between China and the United States in frontal combat at sea.
As more and more advanced aircraft carriers are launched into service, this gap will be further narrowed, hence the Type 004 aircraft carrierThe sooner you build, the better
Of course, there is a high probability that China will not engage in 11 aircraft carriers like the United States, for us6 aircraft carriersBasically, it's enough.
If the Type 004 aircraft carrier is nuclear-powered, then the follow-up models should not be much different,China may have 3 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the futureWhether it is an ocean-going battle or defending the homeland, these combat forces are sufficient.