Some time ago, the sea trials of the Fujian aircraft carrier have become the focus of attention from the outside world, and at present, China has now come up with a large surface ship with a displacement tonnage of more than 80,000 tons, and to build a displacement tonnage of more than 100,000 tons, and the aircraft carrier with nuclear power is also fully equipped with this strength, but after China took out the Fujian aircraft carrier, the focus of attention from the outside world is once again locked on the fourth aircraft carrier of the People's Liberation Army. Recently, foreign media pointed out that China is in the process of producing and manufacturing the fourth aircraft carrier, but judging from the pictures published by foreign media, the size of this aircraft carrier will be much smaller than the three existing aircraft carriers of the PLA. In fact, China already has J-35 fighters, and J-35 will become the main carrier-based fighter of the existing three aircraft carriers in the future, but it may not be possible to complete the J-35 fighter on the fourth aircraft carrier. As a fifth-generation aircraft, in terms of size, the J-35 is smaller than the J-15 fighter, but due to the advantages in performance, this will also allow the J-35 fighter to further enhance the PLA's carrier-based aviation combat capability after it is put on board.
Now that the foreign media have disclosed the segmentation of China's fourth aircraft carrier, it is obvious that this aircraft carrier is getting smaller and smaller, and it is very likely that it will not be able to carry J-35 carrier-based fighters, what is going on? Judging from the size disclosed by the satellite, the displacement tonnage of this aircraft carrier is probably only more than 10,000 tons, which will be about the same as the Thai Navy's Charlie Kna Brigade, and the displacement of this aircraft carrier is only more than 8,000 tons, which also means that the displacement tonnage of the new aircraft carrier built by the PLA is only about the same as that of the Type 055 10,000-ton missile destroyer.
The United States is constantly developing super aircraft carriers, and now the United States is also focusing on the brand-new Ford-class aircraft carriers, which is obviously China is working against the United States, and the War Research Institute believes that China may have other plans. Although this displacement tonnage is only more than 10,000 tons, it is very likely that an aircraft carrier will be developed into a drone carrier. At present, the PLA has a very strong UAV combat strength, and if a UAV aircraft carrier can be developed, this aircraft carrier can not only cooperate with the PLA's Type 075 amphibious assault ship for operations, but also cooperate with aircraft carriers for operations.
Although the size of the drone is smaller and the bomb load is more limited, judging from the current Russia-Ukraine conflict and the actual combat results of the Houthis in Yemen, the drone has many advantages in future operations. According to the information obtained by the War Research Institute, these UAVs can complete more covert penetration tasks, and at the same time, the opponent's air defense system may not be able to effectively intercept the UAVs, whether it is reconnaissance or attack, UAVs are a good hand. Of course, the PLA also has a lot of suicide drones in the combat sequence, this kind of drone with only a one-way ticket can also launch a fatal strike on the target, and the war research believes that in the amphibious landing operation, this kind of drone carrier will also play a miraculous effect.
Due to the very small size of many UAVs, the number of UAVs that can be carried by this aircraft carrier with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons is quite large, and I am afraid that it will pose a greater threat to the opponent than a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the future. Although this kind of aircraft carrier can not complete many tasks in the air, but in the beachhead or a large number of ground targets, it will be very useful, the war research believes that the birth of this kind of UAV aircraft carrier is also very likely to change the future amphibious landing operations. Text/Iris