Recently, US media reported that the US military has confirmed that China's 004 aircraft carrier is under construction, with a displacement of 120,000 tons, surpassing the US' Ford-class, becoming the world's most powerful aircraft carrier.
About China's 004 aircraft carrier being a nuclear-powered one, CCTV has already confirmed it. In the CCTV military media report program on September 23, 2025, the official first clearly stated that the development focus of the next generation of aircraft carriers is to adopt a nuclear power system.
Now, according to US media, China's 004 aircraft carrier has already started construction, with a displacement of an astonishing 120,000 tons, which means that if only J-35 is carried, it can carry 100 J-35s.
Regarding the 004 aircraft carrier, it can be confirmed that its radar system will be upgraded again. Our Fujian aircraft carrier uses a 32-faced phased array radar system, which is already the most advanced shipborne radar system in the world, including two S+X dual-band active phased array radars, four S-band long-range surveillance radars, and four X-band fire control radars. The meter-wave radar on the Fujian aircraft carrier can also conduct reconnaissance on the United States' most advanced B-21 stealth bomber. It can maintain continuous, stable, and accurate detection and tracking capabilities for aerial targets, and quickly send information to the carrier-based aircraft to achieve "detect and destroy." Its performance far exceeds the SPY-6(V)3 radar system used on the second Ford-class aircraft carrier, the Kennedy.
The radar system of the 004 aircraft carrier will be upgraded again. In terms of the number and integration of radar arrays, the 004 aircraft carrier is likely to adopt more numerous and larger new phased array radar panels, forming a 360-degree, ultra-fine detection airspace. Through more advanced radio frequency integration technology, more functions such as electronic warfare and satellite communication will be integrated into a unified radar aperture, achieving a true "integrated mast." This way, the 004 aircraft carrier can even become an electronic warfare warship, using large-scale electronic suppression and interference with enemy radar and communication links, paralyzing the opponent's perception system, building an electromagnetic protection barrier for the formation, and becoming a core perception hub for future maritime warfare, combining offensive and defensive capabilities.
In terms of carrier-based aircraft configuration, the 004 aircraft carrier will be equipped with the J-35 medium stealth carrier-based aircraft; J-15T heavy conventional carrier-based aircraft; J-15D "Roaring Shark" electronic warfare aircraft; KJ-600 carrier-based early warning aircraft; Zhi-20 carrier-based helicopters, and China's unique large stealth unmanned fighter jet.
Especially the large stealth unmanned fighter jet, the unmanned fighter jet has the advantages of simple design, low cost, good stealth performance, and no personnel casualties. Stealth unmanned fighter jets have the ability to penetrate air superiority.
With the characteristics of "unmanned" and strong stealth capability, good maneuverability, and relatively low cost, the stealth unmanned fighter jet can ignore Aegis, approach the US aircraft carrier group closely, conduct aerial attacks, and through continuous suppression, provide a safe passage for subsequent manned aircraft.
Additionally, using the omnidirectional stealth capability of the Attack-21, there is no need to carry expensive cruise missiles or other weapons outside the combat circle. The stealth unmanned fighter jet can secretly fly close to the target and use precision-guided bombs to unexpectedly attack the enemy, destroying key value targets such as enemy air defense bases, airports, power plants, and command centers. The operational range of our stealth unmanned fighter jet exceeds 1,500 kilometers, which means that our aircraft carrier group no longer needs to approach the coast, and without disturbing the local area, the Attack-21 can deeply strike into the enemy territory, which is what the US military calls "penetrating air superiority," except that we have replaced the task executor with an unmanned fighter jet.
After the stealth unmanned fighter jet destroys the air defense system, the carrier-based aircraft formation will quickly advance to clear the remaining enemy air forces and establish a solid battle air superiority. Next, it will be the high-speed missile launches from our aircraft carrier group's 055 and 052D destroyers to bomb, aiming to paralyze the combat potential.
All these are publicly available information. As to how good the performance of our 004 aircraft carrier can be, we will have to wait until the 004 is actually completed.
However, one thing we can be sure of is that since the Fujian aircraft carrier, the US military has been lagging behind China in the combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier battle groups. The Fujian aircraft carrier's carrier-based aircraft formation combined with the high-speed missiles of the 055 and 052D destroyers gives China's aircraft carrier strike group an asymmetric advantage.
The 004 aircraft carrier will only make this advantage even greater. Moreover, the biggest crisis facing the US Navy currently lies in the fact that the US industrial capacity to build aircraft carriers is deteriorating or even disappearing. This dilemma has spread from the construction end to the maintenance end, severely restricting global deployment ambitions.
The core problem lies in the collapse of the industrial base. Now, the US only has Newport News Shipbuilding, the only facility capable of building nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Its dry dock has long been occupied by the construction of the "Ford" class and the maintenance of the "Nimitz" class, forming a vicious cycle of "construction and maintenance competing for capacity." The first ship of the "Ford" class exceeded the budget by 30%, reaching $13 billion, and the second ship, the "Kennedy," has delayed delivery indefinitely. Key technologies such as advanced ammunition elevators and arresting gear have repeatedly encountered technical failures.
The loss of talent and supply chain has worsened the situation. The key positions in shipbuilding have seen a 34% attrition rate over five years, with young welders earning less than food delivery workers. Core materials such as HSLA-115 special steel rely on imports from Japan. This "deindustrialization" caused by decline has led the US Navy to face a "retire fast, build slow" situation in updating and replacing its aircraft carriers. There are only 3-4 operational aircraft carriers in service, and frequent gaps appear in global deployments.
It can be said that when the US military learned about the news of the construction of China's 004 aircraft carrier, they were extremely desperate.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7567606416735879723/
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