Since the launch of the 003 aircraft carrier "Fujian", the strength of the Chinese Navy's aircraft carrier has risen to a new level, and China has become the second country after the United States to have an electromagnetic catapult aircraft carrier. However, what people are most concerned about at present is not when the "Fujian" aircraft carrier will be put into service, but what power system will China's next aircraft carrier adopt. If nuclear power is adopted, then Chinese aircraft carrier will directly tie the US aircraft carrier. If conventional power continues to be adopted, then China's aircraft carrier will always be suppressed by US aircraft carriers. But the good news is that foreign experts generally believe that China's fourth aircraft carrier will most likely use a nuclear power system and will be launched within five years.
According to the " South China Morning Post ", analysts pointed out that China's fourth aircraft carrier may adopt a nuclear power system, and nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is the most in line with China's next military development rhythm.
" South China Morning Post pointed out that Davis, a senior security analyst at the Australian Institute of Strategic Policy, believes that there are two reasons why China's next aircraft carrier will use nuclear power. First of all, if the Chinese Navy wants to become a world-class navy, it needs to obtain long-range military power delivery capabilities. Conventional-powered aircraft carriers require various logistical support, including supply ship , frontier support bases, etc., while nuclear-powered aircraft carriers do not require so many support measures. From a practical and combat perspective, will transition to nuclear aircraft carriers quite quickly, and nuclear power will provide aircraft carriers with more sufficient power supply to meet the needs of high-energy weapons and equipment on board.
Secondly, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are a prestigious asset. If China does not have nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, it will be difficult to be regarded as a naval power. , whether in terms of combat or global prestige, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are of great significance and can elevate the comprehensive strength of the Chinese Navy to a new level. Davis further pointed out that China has developed a ship-use nuclear-powered reactor for nuclear-powered submarines, laying a solid foundation for the construction of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Even if China's next aircraft carrier still uses conventional power, the fifth aircraft carrier will undoubtedly use a nuclear-powered system.
famous American think tank Rand company senior policy researcher Martin also believes that China's fourth aircraft carrier is likely to use nuclear power, and there are two reasons why he himself gave such inferences. First, Martin believes that China's aircraft carriers will be equipped with high-energy-consuming weapons and equipment such as electromagnetic catapult systems in the future. It is difficult for conventional-powered aircraft carriers to generate electricity for high-energy-consuming weapons and equipment, so it is inevitable that China's future aircraft carriers will adopt nuclear power systems. Second, China has decades of experience in using nuclear submarine , so it is familiar with the development of nuclear power systems for aircraft carriers. Therefore, according to him, the People's Liberation Army's future aircraft carrier fleet is likely to use nuclear power. The launch of the aircraft carrier "Fujian" is a key point in the development of China's navy's aircraft carrier, allowing the Chinese Navy to directly jump out of the design idea of Soviet-Russian aircraft carriers and embark on the development route of large US aircraft carriers. Although the 003 aircraft carrier is still a conventional-powered aircraft carrier, the 90,000-ton displacement + electromagnetic catapult system has given it the ability to challenge the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and is the foundation for China's future aircraft carriers. Compared with US aircraft carriers, the most obvious gap in the 003 aircraft carrier is the power system, which also gives special expectations for the next Chinese aircraft carrier. According to foreign experts, China's next aircraft carrier has been designed and will be launched between 2025 and 2027. By then, China will have a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier comparable to the US super aircraft carrier .
The author believes that experts from both the United States and Australia unanimously believe that China's next aircraft carrier will adopt a nuclear power system, which is naturally a full affirmation of the rapid development of China's aircraft carrier industry, which shows that the development of the Chinese Navy can be examined by the standards of the US Navy. However, experts from both the United States and Australia believe that China's experience in nuclear-powered submarines can be directly used on the next aircraft carrier, which is biased.
Although my country conquered the nuclear reactor technology of nuclear powered submarines as early as the 1970s and has achieved remarkable achievements in the field of nuclear reactions with submarine , the development of nuclear powered aircraft carriers is by no means simply moving the submarine nucleus directly onto the aircraft carrier. The most typical detour among them is France's "Charles de Gaulle" aircraft carrier .
Military nuclear reactor technology is a top secret technology in any country. Even the closest allies will not easily sell related technologies. This also enables the French "Charles de Gaulle" aircraft carrier to buy the US C-13 steam catapult from the United States at a high price, but can only develop nuclear reactors for aircraft carriers by themselves. However, since French manufacturers find it difficult to build high-power nuclear reactors in a short period of time, and France is relatively tight in funding, the "Charles de Gaulle" aircraft carrier can only use the K-15 reactors on the "Triumph" class strategic nuclear submarine. However, the maximum power of the K-15 nuclear reactor is only 150MW and the output power is only 76,200 horsepower, resulting in a serious lack of power in the USS Charles de Gaulle and a maximum speed of only 25 knots. If it weren't for the strong enough performance of the USS C-13 steam catapult, it would be difficult for the "Charles de Gaulle" to effectively release the carrier-based aircraft .
Dagal Gaulle aircraft carrier
In order to increase the maximum power of ship nuclear reactors, the most effective way is to increase the concentration of fuel uranium 235. The United States is currently in the world's leading position in this regard. If the concentration of nuclear fuel can be increased to more than 90%, it can be used as the raw material for nuclear weapon . It is very difficult for to use such a concentration of nuclear raw materials for nuclear reactors. The concentration of uranium 235 of the first and second generation nuclear submarine reactor of Soviet first-generation and second-generation nuclear submarine reactors is only 21%, the third-generation nuclear submarine is 43%~45%, the concentration of uranium 235 of the French K-15 reactors is only about 20%, while the concentration of uranium 235 of the US A1G and A1B nuclear reactors reaches more than 93%. The two nuclear reactors can provide sufficient power for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
Although my country is at the world's advanced level in the field of civil nuclear reactors, it has a considerable gap with the United States in military nuclear reactors. Therefore, before my country's ship-use high-power nuclear reactor matures, my country will never build large-scale nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, let alone take the French aircraft carrier development path. However, even if my country's next aircraft carrier still uses conventional power, the medium-voltage DC integrated power system developed by my country's scientific researchers can meet the power demands of ship electromagnetic catapult systems, large phased array radars and high-energy weapons. Therefore, before my country's ship nuclear reactor matured, my country's demand for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers was not very urgent. For China, as long as the military nuclear reactor system is steadily promoted, China's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will eventually become a reality and the waiting time will not be long.
