Militär Aktuell has repeatedly discussed the gradual Chinese development of aircraft carriers and their underlying concepts. Only recently, the the third Chinese carrier, the “Fujian”, was put into service. Now the fourth ship of this class is being built in the Dalian shipyards in Liaoning province. The project with the internal designation Type 004 is rumored to be the first Chinese aircraft carrier with nuclear propulsion.
However, the latter is still the subject of intense debate among naval experts – especially in the USA, which sees itself directly affected by the Chinese naval build-up (-> Largest navy in the world: China rules the waves). One thing is certain: With a displacement of around 110,000 to 120,000 tons, a length of 330 to 340 meters and an air group of over 90 naval combat aircraft – including J-15T and J-35A – as well as helicopters and UCAVs, the fourth carrier is likely to be in a league of its own. At best, the US Ford class would be comparable, possibly even surpassing it in individual parameters.
Like the “Fujian”, the new carrier will no longer rely on the previously used “ski-jump” concept, but will have a flat flight deck with electromagnetic catapults (EMALS) and modern interception systems. At the same time, additional escort ships would be required, including 055A/B destroyers, new 054B frigates (or a future 05X class) and 095 SSN attack submarines.
The outer design of the carrier, as shown in several Chinese graphics, is also striking: It is strongly reminiscent of the US-American Ford class as well as the planned French new-generation aircraft carrier. The island arranged far aft to starboard with presumably fixed radar arrays is particularly striking. The US Navy has repeatedly praised the more compact island arrangement compared to the Nimitz class, as it clearly favors flight operations and procedures on deck.
Speculation about reactors and drive
At the same time, there are increasing indications that the Chinese leadership and the PLAN (Navy of the People’s Republic of China) is aiming for a transition from conventional to nuclear-powered carriers. Chinese naval representatives also openly express this at international trade fairs, for example in Dubai. A nuclear-powered Type 004 – a name is not yet known – would have a considerably greater range in the Pacific and a theoretically almost unlimited deployment time, limited only by supplies such as aircraft fuel and food.
Official information on the reactor technology does not yet exist. Even the pictures circulating on social networks, some of which were taken illegally, do not provide any clear indications. Although some observers interpret cuboid structures on a photo from 2025 as a possible reactor shell, there are doubts, particularly in the USA, as to whether China’s nuclear industry already has a sufficiently compact and powerful ship reactor.
A modern CATOBAR carrier of this size requires enormous electrical and thermal power: electromagnetic catapults, capture systems, extensive sensor technology, radar and AEW systems as well as high cruising speeds typically require several hundred megawatts of thermal power per reactor or several hundred megawatts of total electrical power – depending on the efficiency and number of reactors. Although maritime reactors for large surface vessels have long been a reality, the specific design (e.g. two reactors with an output of X MW each) remains pure speculation.
Progress in the nuclear sector – but unanswered questions
Both classic pressurized water reactors and advanced concepts, such as molten salt reactors, are being discussed. China has made considerable progress in small and modular reactors in recent years, particularly with the ACP100-SMR program (125 MW), which is currently being installed in Changjiang on Hainan – near the South Fleet. The state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is also regarded as a world leader in the series production of so-called fourth-generation reactors.
This also includes the HTR/HTR-PM pebble bed technology, which is considered inherently safe, has comparatively short final storage times and whose roots go back to developments in the 1960s – with the participation of Austrian engineers for Siemens. The world’s first commercial pebble bed reactor is now in operation in Shidaowan. Nevertheless, key questions remain unanswered for type 004: The number of reactors, exact performance data and timetable are viewed differently by experts.
China now has practical experience with land-based test facilities for maritime reactor concepts and with floating nuclear power plants. Satellite images provide evidence of such test facilities – a typical intermediate step on the way to series production of marine reactors. However, the real challenge lies in designing a high-performance reactor that is suitable for use in the sea, resistant to shocks and swells, suitable for radiation protection and easy to maintain. Approval, certification and operational testing can take years.
Focus on power projection and Taiwan
It is therefore quite possible that China will build another conventional ship along the lines of the “Fujian” before or parallel to a nuclear-powered carrier. The PLAN has long-term plans for up to six aircraft carriers. Despite ongoing debates about the vulnerability of carriers in the face of modern anti-ship weapons systems, Beijing continues to regard them as central instruments of power projection, both regionally and globally.
With the Type 004 – or, in the future, a nuclear Type 005 – China is taking further steps towards the maritime dimension of a “world-class army”, in line with the guidelines of head of state Xi Jinping. “world-class army” and is increasingly moving away from pure “offshore defense”. Although PLAN units are already operating in the Mediterranean or even in the Baltic Sea, there is still a lack of fully developed carrier battle groups, both doctrinally and practically, for a permanent global presence. Integrated air-sea operations at great distances and resilient global logistics chains are also still being developed.
The new aircraft carrier nevertheless acts as a catalyst for an expansion of Chinese long-distance missions – for example to protect trade routes or to politically underpin the “multipolar world order” propagated by Beijing. In the short to medium term, however, the targeted build-up of deterrence and deterrence potential seems most realistic with a view to the Taiwan issue set by Xi for 2027. In this scenario, the Type 004 and its predecessors “Shandong” and “Fujian” in particular would come into play.
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