Countries begin to copy the Fujian Ship? The French Navy praises it, but a Chinese technology is unmatched globally and cannot be provided for free.
The day the Fujian Ship officially entered service, international media paid close attention. CNN, an American cable TV network, rare sent this news globally in the form of "Breaking News," focusing on two hard indicators: one is that the displacement of the Fujian Ship exceeds 80,000 tons, and the second is its electromagnetic catapult system (EMALS).
Internationally, an aircraft carrier with a displacement over 80,000 tons is a super carrier. The French naval professional media "Mer et Marine" reported that the Fujian Ship is currently the largest conventional-powered aircraft carrier in the world. Compared with others, France's only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" is only 42,000 tons. This means that the Fujian Ship has achieved the size and combat potential close to the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers under a conventional power platform.
The United States is the first country to deploy electromagnetic catapult systems on the "Ford-class" aircraft carriers, but the initial failure rate was high, and it was not until recent years that it gradually stabilized. While the Fujian Ship is China's first aircraft carrier to adopt this system, from public images and official information released, its catapult tests have achieved continuous success, showing a high level of engineering maturity.
Faced with the technological breakthroughs of the Fujian Ship, some foreign media began to speculate whether other countries would "copy the homework." French naval experts have expressed in multiple occasions that the design concept of the Fujian Ship is "impressive," especially the layout of the island, flight deck efficiency, and integration of the power system. However, what makes it difficult for foreign countries to replicate is not the appearance or deck configuration, but the power system that supports the operation of the electromagnetic catapult - the Medium Voltage Direct Current Integrated Power Propulsion Technology (MVDC).
The reason why China's electromagnetic catapulting is ahead of the United States lies in the fact that the ship's power generation, distribution, propulsion, and weapon systems are integrated into a high-efficiency DC grid. Compared with traditional AC systems, the medium-voltage DC system has a smaller volume, lighter weight, and higher energy conversion efficiency, especially suitable for the instantaneous power needs of high-power pulse loads (such as electromagnetic catapults, laser weapons).
According to public data, the Fujian Ship's integrated power system has a peak output power exceeding 200 megawatts, which is sufficient to support multiple electromagnetic catapults working simultaneously without affecting other high-energy-consuming equipment on board.
France, the UK, and even India have shown interest in imitating China's medium-voltage DC electromagnetic catapult technology, but they have not yet broken through the hundred-megawatt-level DC integration threshold in the field of shipboard integrated power systems.
More importantly, this technology involves a large number of underlying patents and military standards, and is considered a national core strategic asset. China will not transfer related technologies to the outside world, nor has it participated in any international joint development projects. Even if future countries attempt reverse engineering, the topology structure, control algorithms, and material processes of the power system itself constitute a very high barrier.
This technology cannot be transferred to countries such as France for free, so the so-called copying is just a thought.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848366586732868/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.