00X/004 future nuclear CATOBAR carrier thread

[Richard Santos]

At the very least they need to test the reactor on a non-carrier ship first, like an icebreaker or something.

Did the French test de Gualle’s reactor design at sea before installing it?

 

[Michaelsinodef]

At the very least they need to test the reactor on a non-carrier ship first, like an icebreaker or something.

Isn't that already underway though?

Although can't remember what the timelines for it was.

 

[Richard Santos]

If they test it on a nuclear icebreaker first then it will be at least 5-6 years before they can even start on the next carrier. I don’t think they will have time to test it on a commercial ship if they intend to match at least the US cadence in commissioning new carriers. so far they have far exceeded US cadence on every category of new ship cobstruction.

 

[Lime]

Let's see if the new segment will appear on the dock after the launch of 003.

 

[SinoSoldier]

Alternatively, if the next carrier is nuclear and takes too long to arrive, you'd think it would make more sense to build another 003 pattern carrier in the interim.

I suppose it depends on what we think "many years" means LOL

Maybe that's why they wanted to get a jump on that. Unless the Chinese are fine with building two carriers simultaneously.

 

[LCR34]

I suspect they will build a second conventional carrier after they trialled 003, works out the kinks etc and gain 5-6 years of experience operating CATOBAR and will probably start building 004 (nuclear) a year after the 2nd conventional CATOBAR. This is inline with PLA's “小步快跑 快速迭代” (small steps, fast iterations) tactics. Instead of long development to come out with a final, mass produced model. We've seen it on LiaoNing and Shandong. 052C->052D->052DL. J10A-J10B-J10C, ZTZ-99->99A etc. They would want to field something in the transitional period, something the troops can use to gain experience and provide feedbacks.
PLAN's ultimate goal is to somehow match USN's carrier capability, blue water nuclear carrier task force, so i predict it will be improved 004 that will be finalised (定型）and mass produced like the Ford class.

 

[ougoah]

003 is just CATOBAR "training carrier" similar to how Liaoning is "carrier training" carrier.

It's iterative and a step by step. They are doing this correctly!

If what is meant by this is NOT Type 004 but carrier number 4 being nuclear. Then it's the next carrier. I suspect their core design work and core technologies are really mostly completed and the nuclear propulsion technology has been worked on for a good decade or so. Building the thing would take about 3 years at least. 003 is going into service by the end of this year and that's about a good 5 or so years with CATOBAR operation learning and developing SOPs, refining and so on. Enough time to help amend any operational design changes required for touch up on 004.

There's not much point spending all the time and resources building another conventional CATOBAR like 003 when the whole purpose is to refine CATOBAR operations and developing all those thousands of manuals and of course training up crew and the air wing.

Nuclear propulsion is ready for a build. What's not ready is the nitty gritty details which 003's whole job is to refine over and improve for the finer details for 004. The core tech for 004 would be ready - EMALs (003) and nuclear propulsion.

 

[by78]

At the very least they need to test the reactor on a non-carrier ship first, like an icebreaker or something.

The rumors were that naval reactors were to be first tested on a stationary off-shore platform, then followed by testing on a 'special purpose' vessel. Allegedly the offshore platform has been in service for a while now, and the special purpose vessel was supposed to be completed by 2020. The pandemic might have delayed the timeline a bit, but I suspect the special purpose vessel too has been finished and handed over by now.

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:
Begin translation:
Back in 2013 I laid out a three-stage roadmap for marine nuclear propulsion. The first stage is the construction of a nuclear-powered off-shore engineering platform. Rumors say that this platform – HHPxx – has been handed over. The second stage is the construction of a nuclear powered special/specialty/specialized** vessel, the first of which – ACPRxxx – was supposed to be finished this year, to be followed by three more. I don't know if the construction schedule has been affected by the pandemic, but I hope its progress is smooth. As for the third stage, it's still too early.
End Translation.

**The second stage's specialized vessel could be the rumored icebreaker.

 

[antiterror13]

China has managed to put a nuclear reactor on SSN Han 091 since 1974, thats almost 50 yrs ago, surely China should be able to make it work on carrier ... Chinese technology in 1974 was extremely low and backward .. perhaps now 1000x more advanced than in 1974, also the economic might China is like 1000x than in 1974

 

[gelgoog]

In theory you would not need a floating platform. You could just conduct land based tests on an appropriate simulator. But China is expected to make a floating platform to improve the qualify of the tests and initial reactor design.