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Recently, the Fujian ship completed the navigation test, which marks that China has entered a new stage, and the national strength has been significantly improved, especially in the maritime military.
Although it already has three aircraft carriers, some people still feel that China is still unable to compete with the West with only three aircraft carriers, and even in the event of a war, China cannot withstand the encirclement of the West.
In this regard, some media revealed that our 004 and 005 have already been built, and in the future, at sea, the United States will have no way to take us.
Does China really have the idea of building a new aircraft carrier? And how much of a role can the existing three aircraft carriers play?
Why does China need aircraft carriers
As a country with a vast coastline, China faces diverse challenges from the sea.
Whether it is the geopolitical complexity of the East and South China Seas, or the activities of the United States and its allies in the region, it has a huge impact on China's maritime security.
In the East and South China Seas, China and its neighbors have some maritime territory and resource problems.
These issues have made the maritime environment in the region complex and stressful, increasing the risk of maritime safety accidents and conflicts.
At the same time, the frequent activities of the United States and its allies in the region pose challenges to China's maritime security.
The United States has tried to safeguard its influence and interests in the region by strengthening its military presence and conducting joint military exercises, thus forming a certain strategic pressure and threat to China.
At the same time, the United States has deployed a large number of military forces in the Asia-Pacific region, including the army, navy and air force, and has deployed some aircraft carrier forces to the region.
The United States regards China's rise as the main challenge in its global strategy, and with the acceleration of China's military modernization and development, the United States has aroused the vigilance of the United States, so the United States has adopted a series of measures to safeguard its position and interests in the Asia-Pacific region.
With the development of the country's economy and the enhancement of its national strength, China has gradually realized the importance of maritime strategy and has begun to increase its investment and development of naval forces.
For China to play a greater role in regional and global affairs, it must have a strong naval force.
The development of naval forces is crucial to protecting China's maritime rights and interests, maintaining regional peace and stability, and enhancing China's international status.
As the symbol and core of naval strength, aircraft carriers are the core force of maritime strategy, with flexible, rapid, and powerful combat capabilities, which can effectively enhance the Chinese Navy's ability to fight in the far seas and enhance the country's strategic deterrence, thus becoming an important part of China's naval development.
This is a difficult process, which requires not only a lot of capital investment and technology accumulation, but also through painstaking practice and experience accumulation, fortunately, with the efforts of generations, China has made an important breakthrough in aircraft carriers.
China's three aircraft carriers
Our first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was purchased from Ukraine and refitted, and its glide take-off method has certain advantages over traditional aircraft carriers, which is an important milestone in the development of the Chinese Navy.
We were faced with a number of challenges in terms of technology, equipment and personnel. However, through continuous efforts and accumulation of experience, China has successfully converted the Liaoning aircraft carrier into a carrier-based aircraft carrier with certain combat capabilities.
Thanks to the experience and technical foundation accumulated in the Liaoning project in the early stage, the construction of the Shandong was carried out more smoothly, and it has been improved and optimized on the basis of the Liaoning ship, and has stronger shipborne combat capability and comprehensive combat effectiveness.
Compared with the Liaoning, the Shandong has improved in terms of the number of carrier-based aircraft, shipboard weapons and equipment, and maneuverability, reflecting the progress and development of the Chinese Navy in the construction and operation of aircraft carriers.
In the past, the aircraft carrier force of the PLA Navy has always attracted much attention, but there is still a gap between its scale and technical level compared with the world's first-class aircraft carrier strength, and the emergence of the Liaoning and Shandong ships has filled the gap of the PLA aircraft carriers.
The commissioning of these two aircraft carriers marks an important step towards the modernization and strengthening of the Chinese Navy.
Having solved the problem of starting from scratch, China needed to go one step further and build a supercarrier, so the plan for the Fujian was proposed. Compared with the first two aircraft carriers, the Fujian is more advanced in design, has a higher level of technology, and has stronger comprehensive combat capabilities.
It fills the shortcomings of the Chinese Navy in aircraft carrier construction and is expected to further enhance the Chinese Navy's ocean-going combat capability and comprehensive strength.
At present, China is making every effort to promote the development and expansion of its aircraft carrier force, accelerate the pace of aircraft carrier construction, and strive to make its aircraft carrier fleet truly rank among the world's first echelon, so as to inject new impetus and vitality into safeguarding national maritime interests and realizing the dream of becoming a maritime power.
Project 004 and 005 aircraft carriers
According to the predictions of American experts, China will not stop building only three aircraft carriers, and within five years there will be at least two more ships, namely the 004 and 005 aircraft carriers.
Among them, the 004 is most likely a further improvement of the Fujian aircraft carrier.
It is speculated that the design of the fourth aircraft carrier may reach 9-100,000 tons with a full load displacement, which means that the aircraft carrier can carry more carrier-based aircraft and weapons and equipment, narrowing the gap with the American aircraft carrier USS Ford.
In addition, some media pointed out that China may only be able to use nuclear technology on the 005 aircraft carrier, because at present, China does not have the technical level of nuclear reactor operation, and needs to continue to accumulate precipitation.
Since the development and application of aircraft carrier nuclear reactors involve complex issues such as nuclear energy safety and technical reliability, China needs to invest a lot of manpower, material and financial resources in research and testing to ensure the safety and stability of nuclear reactors and meet the needs of aircraft carrier operations and navigation.
The technical complexity of aircraft carrier nuclear reactors is high, which requires high-level scientific researchers and technical teams for R&D and application, and the construction and operation costs are high, requiring sufficient financial support and technical support.
By around 2030, China's relevant technology will be mature, and it will be possible to use nuclear technology on the 005 aircraft carrier to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
By then, China's four conventional aircraft carriers will be able to perform a variety of missions, including maritime defense, anti-submarine warfare, striking shore targets, and carrier formation protection, enhancing our presence and combat capabilities in regional waters.
Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will be able to carry out long-range combat missions more flexibly, which will further strengthen the presence and influence of the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean and other far-sea combat areas, and provide important support for safeguarding national maritime rights and interests and coping with complex security challenges.
If the United States does not continue to invest its forces, then China will be able to level with it in the Asia-Pacific region, which will help us respond to external military provocations and threats and ensure China's strategic dominance in key maritime areas.
Resources:
The mainland's third aircraft carrier was launched and named "Fujian Ship".CCTV News [Citation date:2022-06-17]
Fujian Ship Successfully Completed First Sea Trial!.CCTV News Official WeChat Account.2024-05-08 [Citation Date:2024-05-08]