At the end of November 2023, the new star of the Chinese Navy, the Fujian aircraft carrier, once again became the focus of global attention. According to **, by around December, the Fujian ship will complete the tests and begin sea trials, which is undoubtedly a major milestone for the Chinese Navy.
At the same time, work on the Type 004 aircraft carrier, the next generation of the Chinese Navy, is also underway in secret. Albeit only through sporadic fragments of information, there are indications that the design work on the aircraft carrier has been completed. So, about the Type 004 aircraft carrier, a major question arises: will it be nuclear-powered? And, at what point will construction start at the earliest?
As for the question of whether the Type 004 aircraft carrier will be nuclear-powered, according to the current international situation and the needs of the Chinese Navy, the possibility of choosing nuclear power is quite high. This inference is not unfounded. Taking the recent Palestinian-Israeli conflict as an example, two US aircraft carriers were able to quickly arrive in the Middle East in a short period of time to provide support to Israel, which to a certain extent demonstrated the strategic flexibility and ocean-going combat capability of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
By contrast, China's influence in this conflict is relatively small, not least because the Chinese navy's ocean-going combat capabilities need to be strengthened. As one of the world's largest oil consumers, China has a tangible interest in the stability and security of the Middle East. Therefore, improving the Navy's ocean-going combat capabilities, especially through the deployment of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers with strategic projection capabilities, is critical to safeguarding the country's energy security and overseas interests.
The nuclear-powered Type 004 aircraft carrier will bring unprecedented strategic advantages to the Chinese Navy. Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers can not only provide a longer period of continuous combat capability at sea, but also can be rapidly deployed around the world, effectively expanding the combat range and influence of the Chinese Navy. This is not only an important supplement to China's modernization process, but also an important demonstration of China's strength as a responsible major country to maintain international peace and regional stability.
With the Fujian ship about to start sea trials and the completion of the design work of the Type 004 aircraft carrier, the Chinese Navy is standing at a new historical starting point. In the future, both the Fujian and potential nuclear-powered Type 004 aircraft carriers will be the key to the transformation of the Chinese Navy to ocean-going combat capabilities. This is not only related to the security of China's sea lanes, but also to China's strategic position and international influence on the global stage.
At present, although China's Type 055 destroyers and Fujian aircraft carriers have reached the world's advanced level in terms of technology and functions, there is still a gap in their influence in the ocean-going region compared with American aircraft carriers. This reality challenges the Chinese Navy and drives the quest for greater maritime power. If China can have a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a further technological upgrade similar to the Fujian, then China's ability to pursue ocean-going interests will be greatly improved.
In the past, many people believed that China would not have to rush to pursue its ocean-going interests for the foreseeable future, based on China's developments. Therefore, it is widely expected that the Type 004 aircraft carrier will continue the design of the Fujian, while the plan for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will be postponed to the Type 005. However, with China's development achievements in recent years and its changing role on the international stage, the need for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers has increased, prompting a rethinking of the timeline for the power carrier program.
From a technical point of view, China already has the conditions to develop nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The successful launch of the Fujian not only proves that China has mastered the mature technology to build large aircraft carriers, but also demonstrates the ambition of the Chinese Navy to modernize. Although the Fujian uses a traditional steam power system, it has already demonstrated impressive performance as a conventionally powered aircraft carrier with a displacement of more than 80,000 tons. This shows that China's power technology is sufficient to support the needs of large aircraft carriers, and the mastery of nuclear reactor technology is undoubtedly within China's capabilities.
Its emergence will provide the Chinese Navy with unparalleled ocean-going combat capabilities and a lasting maritime presence, which is of great significance for safeguarding the country's maritime rights and interests, protecting overseas resources and the security of sea lanes. As China plays an increasingly important role in global affairs, the strategic value of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers is not only reflected in the military field, but also related to the improvement of national strategic interests and international status.
To sum up, with the continuous growth of China's naval power and the increasing maturity of technology, the development of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers has become a natural choice in the process of modernization of China's navy. Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will undoubtedly become a new strategic asset of the Chinese Navy, marking China's emergence as a global maritime power in the true sense of the word.