CV-18 Fujian/003 CATOBAR carrier thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Could the red object in the middle of the image be a stage for the commissioning ceremony? It doesn't appear in previous satellite images.
Looking at this from an "engineering" perspective an argument can be made there is a lot of technological overlap between EM catapults and perhaps maglev trains and electromagnetic rail guns. It's all just different versions of linear induction motors right?
If China is the first in line to master EM catapults perhaps that also means it will be first to master the other technologies?
If the answer is yes then this would indeed be monumental.
I really hope there will be more aircraft than shown in this picture during the ceremony. It looks quite barren
For a commissioning ceremony having two aircraft of each type of its regular airwing on deck is fairly decent.
Be glad that they have more than just one or two helicopters onboard at all.
Oh hey Z-20J~
This is just my personal reading of organisational questions, but for a ceremony such as commissioning you want to display the relevant aircraft types, and allow plenty of space for visitors (many of which will be high profile and have their own entourage etc) to move around the flight deck. The last thing you want is a fligt deck parked up to capacity just to impress with numbers. No one attending such an event will care about that, and it makes effective supervision far more difficult.
Monumental in several facets.
1) EM catapults are new with only two countries being able to build and operate them. China has been able to launch three different types of varying weights with its first generation catapults and carrier,
2) Only a handful of countries are able to build and operate CATOBAR carriers and all save the US with the Ford have had to do it with steam. China has basically leapfrogged into the leading edge in carrier operations when it did not even operate a carrier a dozen years ago,
3) Yes, it is the same basic tech as maglev rail and rail guns and yes, China is on the leading edge of those as well. The ability to employ technology to practical usage (such as drones, nuclear, spacecraft and AI) in China today is epic in every sense of the word,
4) And this is only the beginning because the payoff of the huge R&D growth -- beginning in 2010s but especially after the 2018 trade/tech war -- will be coming like an oncoming freight train in the coming decades.
