China’s new high-tech aircraft carrier could launch in early 2022, satellite imagery analysis shows – CTV News
A new Chinese aircraft carrier with technology nearly equaling the capabilities of its U.S. counterparts could be launched as soon as February next year, according to an analysis of satellite imagery by a Washington-based think tank.
In images provided by Center for Strate…….
A new Chinese aircraft carrier with technology nearly equaling the capabilities of its U.S. counterparts could be launched as soon as February next year, according to an analysis of satellite imagery by a Washington-based think tank.
In images provided by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the carrier — known only as the Type 003 — can be seen on the edge of completion on October 23, in the Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai.
The installation of major external and internal components, including power plants and the aircraft launching system, appears to either be finished or on the verge of completion, CSIS said. Only a few additional items — such as radar and weapon systems — remain to be installed before the vessel can slip into the Yangtze River, the analysts added.
“Based on available information and observed progress at Jiangnan, the authors estimate that the Type 003 will launch in roughly three to six months,” CSIS said in a commentary published November 9.
Once it is ready, the ship will be China’s third aircraft carrier and its second to be domestically produced.
But unlike its sister ships, the Liaoning and the Shandong, experts said the Type 003 will feature more advanced aircraft launching technology, along the lines of the catapult system used by U.S. aircraft carriers.
The new launchers will allow China to launch a wider variety of planes from the Type 003 faster and with more ammunition.
Matthew Funaiole, senior fellow at the CSIS’s China Project, said the Type 003 would be the Chinese military’s “first foray into a modern aircraft carrier.”
“This is a pretty significant step forward,” he said. “They’ve really committed to building out a carrier program, and they continue to push the boundaries of what they’re able to do.”
ARMS RACE
China now wields the largest naval force in the world, and aircraft carriers are the core vessels of any major power’s fleet.
The massive ships are essentially a mobile airbase, allowing for the rapid, long-term deployment of aircraft and weaponry to a combat theater.
But their value isn’t solely in terms of combat capability, Funaiole said. They also have great worth in terms of diplomatic prestige and “power projection.”
“China wants to have a world-class navy. It wants to signal to the world that it has a world-class navy, (and) try to convince nations around the region or around the world that it is on par with the United States,” he said. And the symbol of U.S. naval power internationally is its fleet of aircraft carriers, Funaiole added.
China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was an unfinished Soviet-era vessel that Beijing bought from Ukraine in 1998, updated and finally commissioned in 2012.
The Chinese military used the technological knowledge it gained from that vessel to build its first domestically constructed carrier, the Shandong, which entered service in December 2019.
But although China’s two initial aircraft carriers increased its naval power, their capability was still far behind the U.S., which has a total of 11 of the vessels in service.
In addition, both the Liaoning and the Shandong were based on outdated Soviet technology. Those two carriers used the ski-jump launching system, where planes would simply take off from a slight ramp, while U.S. carriers use a more advanced catapult system to launch their aircraft.
Aircraft launched by catapults can get airborne quicker and with greater quantities of fuel and ammunition, giving them …….
