【The 004 aircraft carrier is likely to be nuclear-powered, new photos from Dalian Shipyard reveal details】
According to the Taiwan's China Times, strong new evidence from Dalian Shipyard shows that the next aircraft carrier of the People's Liberation Army is very likely to be nuclear-powered, which symbolizes a significant leap in China's naval capabilities and marks a crucial step towards being on par with the U.S. Navy.
Dalian Shipyard is working intensively on the 004 aircraft carrier. Previously, there had been much speculation about what kind of power system the carrier would use. Some said it would be a sister ship to the Fujian, still using conventional power, as conventional-powered aircraft carriers are sufficient for operations near the "First Island Chain." Others suggested it might be nuclear-powered. However, the Pentagon's latest assessment of Chinese military strength mentioned the 004 aircraft carrier but did not explicitly mention nuclear power, only stating that the next generation of Chinese aircraft carriers will have longer range, significantly enhancing China's ability to project power into more distant waters.
The recent images show that the outline of the 004 aircraft carrier is gradually taking shape. In its hull structure, one can see structures similar to reactor containment vessels, which are key indicators of the propulsion system. Analysts point out that this structure is roughly similar to the equipment found on American nuclear-powered supercarriers, so it is speculated that the future 004 aircraft carrier is likely to directly adopt nuclear power, although it is also possible that this could be a test module.
Taiwan media also reported: previous designs of the 004 aircraft carrier showed that it resembles the U.S. Navy's Ford-class aircraft carriers. In fact, if the 004 aircraft carrier uses nuclear power along with electromagnetic catapults, it will be capable of matching the Ford-class aircraft carriers in the future.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1848667560003593/
Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author.