CV-18 Fujian/003 CATOBAR carrier thread

Deino

Deino

Lieutenant General
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davidau said:
I venture to say the next carriers will be 004, 005, 006 and so on.
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The problem is, that these numbers 003, 004, 005 and so on are not used in a strict pattern. Some classify them as Type of the vessel numbers, whereas others rate them as carrier numbers. I must admit I was indeed surprised the Shandong is rated 002 since IMO the changes are not that dramatic to justify an own new class, but anyway. As such it will be interesting to see, if the next carrier will be yet another Type 003 class vessel or even a Type 004 class?

I expect at least one more Type 003 vessel.
 
T

Totoro

Major
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This last Maxar image shows insinuates the deck length might be closer to 315 than to 318 m. Though, of course, the resolution is still lacking to be within a meter of precision.
 
Helius

Helius

Senior Member
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Deino said:
The problem is, that these numbers 003, 004, 005 and so on are not used in a strict pattern. Some classify them as Type of the vessel numbers, whereas others rate them as carrier numbers. I must admit I was indeed surprised the Shandong is rated 002 since IMO the changes are not that dramatic to justify an own new class, but anyway. As such it will be interesting to see, if the next carrier will be yet another Type 003 class vessel or even a Type 004 class?

I expect at least one more Type 003 vessel.
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Another possibility worth considering is that much like the 001 and even the 002, the 003 is the first of its Type/Class which is not strictly a proven or mature platform as far as the PLAN is concerned, but more like a testbed for carrier operations as well as carrier construction (first STOBAR, now CATOBAR).

So it's just as likely that the next CV could very well be a Type 004 that further improves upon lessons learnt/to be learnt from 003, much like 002 via-a-vis 001 before it.

Also, considering China's propensity to play the long game and the PLAN's habit of building ships in pairs, if it turns out the PLAN is confident about 003's design and performance, I could realistically see them building a pair of conventional "Improved 003s"/004s before moving on to a nuclear "Type 005".

This would allow China to scale up her carrier force more quickly... which is fast becoming a priority in the current geopolitical climate. There's also the added benefit of longer lead time for the PLAN to further develop their nuclear power plants and propulsion tech for an eventual CVN.

By that same rationale, when the PLAN finally gets around to building a CVN, they could well follow a similar pattern of building a nuclear Type 005 as a testbed and then a pair of proven/"proper" Type 006 CVNs, by which point the PLAN would have a strength of 8 CVs/CVNs in various modes of operation.

As an added aside, there's a certain merit to a 3-ship per class approach for carriers, as one would be in repairs, one in extended maintenance, and one in operation. So this ensures there would always be at least one carrier specific to its role available at all times. So while a potentially 8-ship (or whatever the number may be) carrier force may seem excessive depending on where you stand, it is in reality anything but.
 
T

taxiya

Brigadier
Registered Member
GTI said:
Well thanks for the allowance for newer members… I do read old posts, and know CV16 is 001 and CV17 is 002. You will also note that I said “not necessarily” and “might”.

So my question / clarification that I am kindly seeking is this:

Will every PLAN carrier - from current 003 under construction, to let’s say 3 identical CVNs (“end state design”) at some undetermined future date, all the way to Star Destroyers patrolling Phobos and Deimos - all see the type number incremented by 1?

* (Even when a “mature/end state design” is decided upon and then multiple identical hulls with identical prime movers are batch produced)
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If they incremented by 1 after another, then they are certainly not type number, but sequence number, isn't it?

From the look of today (CV-17 being 002 without much change from CV16), the number seems to be more like sequence number. So my answer according to this pattern is that I expect "number incremented by 1".
 
Team Blue

Team Blue

Junior Member
Registered Member
Deino said:
The problem is, that these numbers 003, 004, 005 and so on are not used in a strict pattern. Some classify them as Type of the vessel numbers, whereas others rate them as carrier numbers. I must admit I was indeed surprised the Shandong is rated 002 since IMO the changes are not that dramatic to justify an own new class, but anyway. As such it will be interesting to see, if the next carrier will be yet another Type 003 class vessel or even a Type 004 class?

I expect at least one more Type 003 vessel.
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Meanwhile those of us using the NATO classifications won't know either way and get really confused whenever they're brought up.
 
T

taxiya

Brigadier
Registered Member
Deino said:
The problem is, that these numbers 003, 004, 005 and so on are not used in a strict pattern. Some classify them as Type of the vessel numbers, whereas others rate them as carrier numbers. I must admit I was indeed surprised the Shandong is rated 002 since IMO the changes are not that dramatic to justify an own new class, but anyway. As such it will be interesting to see, if the next carrier will be yet another Type 003 class vessel or even a Type 004 class?

I expect at least one more Type 003 vessel.
Click to expand...
For my understanding, I think it can be an confirmation that if the next CV after the current 003 is identical to be around the same tonnage, CATOBAR and conventional powered.
  1. If it is named 004, then the number is just sequence.
  2. If it is named 003, then it is type number.
 
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