China’s Third Aircraft Carrier Is Coming This Year
The carrier is described as being much larger and high-tech than previous ships and incorporating an electromagnetic catapult.
China may likely launch its third aircraft carrier as soon as this year, bringing yet another dimension to its ability to project high-tech, forward operating maritime warfare power and introducing a series of new naval combat technologies somewhat analogous to the U.S. Navy’s
Ford-class carriers.
The third Chinese carrier, which emerges as China’s second indigenously-built carrier, is described as being much larger and high-tech than previous ships and incorporating an electromagnetic catapult.
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- December 31, 2020, 7:01 AM
An impression of the PANG, complete with an air wing of NGFs, E-2Ds and NH90 helicopters, reveals a vessel close in concept to the U.S. Navy’s larger Ford-class ships. (Photo: DGA/Naval Group)
In early December, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that the country’s Porte-Avions Nouvelle Génération (PANG, new-generation aircraft carrier) will be nuclear-powered. The statement brought to an end the €40 million initial architecture and propulsion study phase of the project, which began in October 2018 following the program s launch at that month’s Euronaval show in Paris. Macron s recent announcement was accompanied by the release of more details about the vessel, which is scheduled to enter service in 2038.
USNI News
Chinese Navy Expanding Bases Near South China Sea
The lead Chinese Type-075 preparing for sea trials. Photo via Weibo
The Chinese Navy, formally known as the PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy), conducted a live-fire exercise several days ago over the South China Sea utilizing a newly expanded naval base.
Harbin Z-9 helicopters took off from a base at Sanya on the southern tip of Hainan and fired anti-ship missiles at simulated targets. The Z-9, a license-built variant of the Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, is a standard shipboard helicopter the PLAN flies. The exercise itself sends a signal, but the base from which the helicopters took off is crucial. The base has been massively improved over the past year.