50 MW Gas Turbine is About to Emerge, China's Warships Have a Stronger Heart, Directly Leaving the White House Baffled!
Recently, the 703 Research Institute under China Shipbuilding Group is vigorously advancing a 50 MW class gas turbine - CGT50. Don't be fooled by its cold name; it could become the "new heart" of China's future main warships, and its emergence has indeed caught Washington off guard.
Modern large surface ships, especially destroyers, amphibious assault ships, and even aircraft carriers, have high requirements for power systems. Traditional steam turbines are bulky and slow to start; diesel engines have limited power; while gas turbines combine high power density, rapid response, and modular advantages, making them the preferred choice for mainstream naval powers around the world. However, for a long time, high-performance ship-borne gas turbines have been firmly controlled by a few countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine. For example, the US LM2500 series and the UK MT30 are the core power sources of Western flagship ships.
In December 2024, the CGT30 with 33.5 MW and the CGT40 with 44 MW were launched; then came the 3 MW CGT3 for distributed energy; now the 50 MW CGT50 is about to appear - this power level has exceeded the current US LM2500+ (about 30-35 MW), approaching the UK MT30 (about 40 MW) and even higher. This means that it is fully capable of driving aircraft carriers weighing 8-100,000 tons, or providing stronger redundancy and speed guarantees for the next generation of large destroyers.
When China can not only produce ship power systems that match or even surpass existing Western standards, but also establish a complete product line from 3 MW to 50 MW, it means that the problem of "neck-cutting" in China's naval power is being fundamentally resolved. In the future, China's aircraft carrier groups will no longer need to worry about the source of their "heart", and the design flexibility of new amphibious ships and large destroyers will also be greatly improved - for example, they can adopt full electric propulsion, integrated high-energy weapons, and other power-consuming systems, all of which depend on stable and high-power prime movers.
For Washington, the technical barriers it once took pride in are being dismantled piece by piece. The stricter the blockade, the more it actually accelerates China's independent innovation - this might be the most "baffling" part for the White House.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1854905467987968/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.