Domestic 003 aircraft carrier CG map).
In just 10 years, our navy has equipped and launched three aircraft carriers. Moreover, among the top ten stars in 2023** selected by the Global Times, the Navy's 003 aircraft carrier "Fujian" ranked first, which also shows the enthusiasm of Chinese netizens for naval construction. Of course, the "Fujian" ship can rank first, and it definitely deserves its name, because it is the world's first aircraft carrier not built by the United States and equipped with electromagnetic catapults. So much so that the appearance of the aircraft carrier once made Western military observers speculate whether China wants to replace the United States and become a new generation of "maritime hegemon".
The United States was able to become a maritime hegemon after World War II, largely thanks to its unique aircraft carrier battle group).
Aircraft carriers are undoubtedly surface warships with the largest tonnage and the strongest combat effectiveness in the navy today, because aircraft carriers can generally carry more than a dozen to dozens of carrier-based aircraft of various types and are capable of carrying out three-dimensional strikes on the ground and the sea. In order to "release" these aircraft and give full play to the combat effectiveness of aircraft carriers, from a technical point of view, there are two main take-off methods: glide take-off and catapult take-off.
China's "Liaoning" and "Shandong" warships in service belong to the sliding and jumping take-off mode, which has a simpler aircraft carrier structure, a lower threshold for construction and use, and can form combat effectiveness more quickly. Therefore, China first started with this kind of aircraft carrier, and in the shortest possible time, it established two aircraft carrier battle groups with combat effectiveness. However, the sliding aircraft carrier has its own weaknesses, that is, the load of the sliding jump take-off is relatively low, which affects the combat effectiveness of the carrier-based aircraftAt the same time, the deck scheduling of the glide take-off aircraft carrier is relatively complicated, the deck utilization rate is also low, and the overall combat efficiency is low. Therefore, after the construction of 2 sliding aircraft carriers, our country switched to the construction of aircraft carriers with catapults.
At present, the main force of the US aircraft carrier is still using steam catapults).
Strictly speaking, aircraft carriers that take off with catapults can also be divided into two categories, steam catapults and electromagnetic catapults. Among them, the steam catapult has been used for a long time, and the technology is relatively mature. As early as after the end of World War II, with the advent of jet carrier-based aircraft, the traditional self-propelled take-off method has been unable to meet the needs of carrier-based aircraft. Therefore, the US military took the lead in installing high-power steam catapults on its own aircraft carriers for catapulting and taking off fighters. The steam catapult structure is relatively simple and easy to maintain, and this system has been used by the US military for more than 70 years, and it is still the main catapult device of the US aircraft carrier. During this period, many countries also adopted steam catapult technology, such as France, Australia, Brazil and other countries.
US aircraft carrier electromagnetic catapult test).
The electromagnetic catapult is a new catapult device, which uses electromagnetic conversion to convert electrical energy into strong magnetic force, and uses magnetic force to eject the aircraft. Compared with traditional steam catapults, electromagnetic catapults have unparalleled technical advantages. The first is that the electromagnetic catapult only needs electricity, so it eliminates the need for a large and complex steam pipeline and gas storage tank of the steam catapult. According to public information, the total weight of a set of electromagnetic catapult systems is only about 200 tons, while the weight of a set of steam catapults is more than 500 tons. In addition, electromagnetic catapults are small in size and occupy only one-tenth of the area of steam catapults. On an aircraft carrier where every inch of land is at a premium, saving so much area is definitely of great benefit.
At present, the two aircraft carriers in service in the Chinese Navy are both sliding aircraft carriers, which have a certain impact on the performance of carrier-based aircraft).
Secondly, the electromagnetic catapult can be continuously output by the shipboard generator, as long as the aircraft carrier engine drives the generator to continue to run, then it can be used continuously. The steam catapult needs to extract the high-temperature and high-pressure steam in the aircraft carrier boiler, because the steam catapult uses a slotted cylinder, for each ejection of 1 aircraft, the aircraft carrier boiler will lose about 1 ton of boiler fresh water, so each time the catapult of a standard attack wave of 24 aircraft, the aircraft carrier boiler will lose about 30% of the boiler water, which will lead to a significant drop in the power of the aircraft carrier engine, and it is necessary to urgently replenish fresh water to continue to maintain the work.
The steam catapult loses a large amount of boiler fresh water with each ejection, which can have a significant impact on the performance of the carrier itself)
Thirdly, the power of the electromagnetic catapult can be precisely adjusted, which can undoubtedly greatly save energy consumption and improve the ejection efficiency. Electromagnetic conversion is currently the most efficient way of energy conversion, so the energy utilization rate of electromagnetic catapult is as high as 95%, while the traditional steam catapult is only about 5 10%. And because the power of the steam catapult is not adjustable, the damage to the structure of the aircraft itself is greater during the ejection, which will objectively shorten the service life of the aircraft.
USS Ford conducts electromagnetic ejection tests).
It is precisely because the electromagnetic catapult has the incomparable advantages of steam catapults that the United States, as the world's largest aircraft carrier power, began to develop electromagnetic catapults very early, and replaced its new generation of aircraft carrier "Ford" class nuclear-powered supercarriers with a new electromagnetic catapult as the standard configuration of the new generation of aircraft carriers. China is a proper latecomer country in the field of aircraft carrier technology and application, and our development of aircraft carriers is not only later than that of the United States, Russia and other powerful countries, but even later than India, which we have always looked down upon. But thanks to a strong industrial manufacturing industry, China's second domestic aircraft carrier, the "Fujian" ship, is already a large flat-deck aircraft carrier with electromagnetic catapults.
The launch of the 003 aircraft carrier indicates that China has equaled and even led the United States in electromagnetic catapult technology).
With a full load displacement of more than 80,000 tons, the "Fujian" ship is a large flat-deck catapult aircraft carrier independently developed and built by China, and it is also the only aircraft carrier in the world that adopts electromagnetic catapult technology except for the American "Ford" class aircraft carrier. From the point of view of time, "Fujian" is indeed several years later than the American "Ford", the "Ford" was delivered as early as 2017, the "Fujian" ship was launched in 2022, and the static load ejection test of the catapult has just been completed this year, and the sea trials have not yet begun, and the delivery time is longer. However, the technical level of the electromagnetic catapult of China's aircraft carrier is significantly higher than that of the US military, and China's aircraft carrier uses a medium-voltage DC power supply to drive the electromagnetic catapult of the aircraft carrier, while the US military's "Ford" class aircraft carrier uses a medium-voltage AC power supply, so there has always been a big problem in its reliability, and it has not been properly solved, and it was not until the end of last year that it barely formed combat effectiveness.
The project 003 aircraft carrier has completed the "static load" ejection test and is expected to go to sea for sea trials soon).
Overall, while both U.S. and Chinese carriers use EM catapult technology, there is no doubt that we enjoy a late-mover advantage, and medium-voltage DC motor systems are better suited for EMCATAPS. Judging from the technical field of electromagnetic catapults alone, China has clearly surpassed the United States. The United States is now leading only in aircraft carrier nuclear power technology, and it is only a matter of time before China wants to catch up with and surpass the United States in the field of aircraft carrier technology. Project Sword