China's New High-Tech Aircraft Carrier Could Launch In Early 2022

CNN: China's new high-tech aircraft carrier could launch in early 2022, satellite imagery analysis shows 

Hong Kong (CNN)A new Chinese aircraft carrier with technology nearly equaling the capabilities of its US counterparts could be launched as soon as February next year, according to an analysis of satellite imagery by a Washington-based think tank. 

In images provided by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the carrier -- known only as the Type 003 -- can be seen on the edge of completion on October 23, in the Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai. 

The installation of major external and internal components, including power plants and the aircraft launching system, appears to either be finished or on the verge of completion, CSIS said. 

Only a few additional items -- such as radar and weapon systems -- remain to be installed before the vessel can slip into the Yangtze River, the analysts added.  

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WNU Editor: China has responded to all of this attention .... US media hype Chinese aircraft carrier progress and anti-carrier capability ‘to boost military funding, rally allies’ (Global Times). 

China's New High-Tech Aircraft Carrier Could Launch In Early 2022  

China may launch new high-tech aircraft carrier in early 2022: report -- NYPost

China moves closer to launching newest aircraft carrier: images -- Business Insider

China Close to New Aircraft Carrier as Xi Modernizes Military: Report -- Bloomberg  

China could launch its third aircraft carrier ‘in next 3 to 6 months’ -- SCMP

China’s New Aircraft Carrier Is Massive

The new dry dock on Hainan in the South China Sea is only just large enough for the Type-003 aircraft carrier. This suggests that future carriers will be the same size.  

Naval News: China’s Massive New Aircraft Carrier Is As Big As It Can Be 

Aircraft carriers are at the vanguard of China's incredible naval expansion A new, larger super-carrier is being built near Shanghai. Analysis of radar satellite imagery shows that it is as large as China's new bases allow. 

The growth of the Chinese Navy has been incredible. The PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) is barely recognizable from itself twenty years ago. Among the most important developments have been aircraft carriers. 

Defense analysts have been trawling open source intelligence (OSINT) to keep up with developments. But like much of China, the shipyard building the latest carrier is protected from traditional satellite observation by impenetrable cloud. A new commercial satellite has provided Naval News with a way to see through this cloud. 

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WNU Editor: Apparently this new aircraft carrier will be having some Ford-class tech .... China’s new super carrier boasts Ford-class tech (Asia times).

British Aircraft Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth Pays A Visit To Japan

 

Reuters: Britain shows off Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier to anxious Japan 

TOKYO (Reuters) - Britain showed off its HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier to Japan's defence chief on Monday at a naval base near Tokyo, marking the start of a permanent military presence in a region trying to come to grips with China's growing power. 

Japan's defence minister, Nobuo Kishi, and senior Japanese military commanders were shown round the carrier, walking between F-35B stealth fighters on the deck as Royal Navy officers explained how the jets launched from the ramp at the bow. 

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More News On The British Aircraft Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth Paying A Visit To Japan  

U.K. aircraft carrier visits Japan for drill amid China worry -- CTV News/AP  

Japan defense chief goes on board British aircraft carrier -- Kyodo News  

HMS Queen Elizabeth Arrives In Japan -- gCaptain  

UK's largest aircraft carrier arrives in Japan for drill, aims to counter Chinese influence in Senkaku Islands -- Hindustan Times

Photos Of China's New Aircraft Carrier Are Leaking

Fighter jets and helicopters aboard the Liaoning. REUTERS/Bobby Yip  

Business Insider: Photos of China's new aircraft carrier are leaking, and they appear to show a modern flattop in the making 

 * Over the past week, a number of photos of China's third aircraft carrier have leaked online. 

 * The photos appear to show a ship that is very different from the first two Chinese carriers.

 * "It is not a US carrier, as things are today, but it's still a huge step for China," an expert said. 

China's third aircraft carrier, which is expected to be the country's first modern flattop, is starting to take shape at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, new images that have steadily been leaking online appear to show.

Before 2012, China did not have any aircraft carriers, but over the years, it has managed to develop a modest carrier capability.  

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WNU Editor: This new Chinese aircraft carrier will also have the firepower to back it up .... China to launch new stealth fighter from Beijing’s biggest ever aircraft carrier in warning shot to the West (The SUN).

The USSR Once Had Big Aircraft Carrier Dreams

National Interest: Ulyanovsk: The USSR Had Big Aircraft Carrier Dreams 

But this dream never hit the water for many different reasons. 

In the late 1960s, the Soviet shipbuilding industry began to develop its first nuclear-powered aircraft cruiser. Project 1160 Orel (“Eagle”) was a nuclear-powered supercarrier with a displacement of around 80,000 tons. Orel would have featured steam catapults, carrying as many as seventy aircraft. 

In line with the Soviet concept of a “heavy aviation cruiser,” the proposed supercarrier would have differed from its western counterparts with a robust onboard arsenal of sixteen P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles. By the early 1970s, the project was abandoned due to cost concerns and succeeded by the smaller and much less ambitious Kiev class of conventionally powered carriers. 

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WNU Editor: There is a Russian Navy plan to build a 100,000 ton super carrier .... Navy Mystery: Why Doesn't Russia Go Aircraft Carrier Crazy? (National Interest). But they are not going to build it. The manufacturing infrastructure is not there, nor the funds to build supporting ships, aircraft, and maintenance requirements.

A US Navy Helicopter Pilot Will Become To The First Woman To Take Command Of A Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier In 2022

Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt will be in command of one of the Navy's 11 nuclear aircraft carriers in 2022

Daily Mail: 'Wolfpack' Navy helicopter pilot will become the FIRST woman to command a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier 

 * Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, a helicopter pilot, will be in command of one of the Navy's 11 nuclear aircraft carriers in 2022 

 * In 2016 she became the first female executive officer of nuclear aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, second-in-command of a crew of a 5,000-strong crew 

 * Bauernschmidt graduated from the Naval Academy in 1994, the same year women were allowed to serve on combat ships and planes 

A woman is to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for the first time in U.S. Navy history. 

Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, a helicopter pilot, will be in command of one of the service's 11 nuclear aircraft carriers in 2022. 

Although it is not yet known which of the vessels she will be at the helm of, Naval Air Forces have confirmed that the selection of a woman is historic. 

The appointment is the latest in a meteoric rise for Bauernschmidt who made history in 2016 when she became the first female executive officer of a nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, and was second-in-command of a crew of a 5,000-strong crew. 

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WNU Editor: That is quite an accomplishment. She is currently the commanding officer of the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego. 

 More News On A US Navy Helicopter Pilot Becoming The First Woman To Take Command Of A Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier In 2022 

This Navy helicopter pilot has been chosen to be the first woman to command a US aircraft carrier -- Business Insider 

A woman will take command of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for the first time in US Navy history -- Task & Purpose 

Woman to command nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for first time in US Navy history -- Metro

French Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle Heads Back To Port Over Fears That 40 Sailors Have Contracted The Covid-19 Coronavirus

The French Navy flagship carrier is equipped with a medical unit on board complete with a resuscitation unit. All 40 sailors with suspected Covid-19 are being kept in solitary confinement

Daily Mail: Coronavirus alert on French Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle amid fears 40 sailors have the bug after NATO training exercise with allies including a British warship

* Sailors with suspected cases of Covid-19 are being kept in solitary confinement
* The aircraft carrier had taken part in training exercises off the Denmark coast
* It is now returning back to its home port of Toulon as quickly as possible

The flagship of the French Navy is at the centre of a coronavirus emergency - following a training exercise with NATO allies including a British frigate.

The nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, one of the largest warships in the world, is thought to have at least 40 cases of the virus among its force of around 2,000.

It was steaming back to its home port of Toulon, in the south of France, on Wednesday morning as a screening team prepared to board.

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More News On French Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle Heading Back To Port Over Fears That 40 Sailors Have Contracted The Covid-19 Coronavirus

Coronavirus: French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle heads back to port after possible Covid-19 outbreak -- AFP
French Carrier Charles de Gaulle Heading Home Amid Suspicion of Covid-19 -- Naval News
French aircraft carrier returns to port amid possible coronavirus outbreak; countrywide deaths surpass 10,000 -- FOX News
French Aircraft Carrier Returns To Port After Suspected COVID-19 Cases Found Aboard -- NPR
France's Lone Aircraft Carrier Cuts Mission Short Due To 40 Likely COVID-19 Cases -- Zero Hedge

Is The Idea Of A European Aircraft Carrier Realistic?

The French Marine Nationale aircraft carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R91) transits the Red Sea, April 15, 2019. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Joshua L. Leonard)

David Axe, National Interest: What If Germany Build a European Union Aircraft Carrier?

A good idea or a fool's errand?

Key point: The EU has long dreamed of having a unified military, along with common weapons systems and ships.

A German politician has floated the idea of a European aircraft carrier.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who in 2018 succeeded German chancellor Angela Merkel as the head of Merkel’s governing Christian Democratic Union party, proposed the Euro-carrier in the summer of 2019.

Kramp-Karrenbauer’s proposal came in response to French president Emmanuel Macron’s call for greater European integration.

Merkel herself in early 2019 endorsed the idea. “It’s right and good that we have such equipment on the European side, and I’m happy to work on it.”

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WNU Editor: This plan is not realistic. Aside from the billions needed to build a new aircraft carrier, there are billions more needed to build escort ships, fighter jets, etc., and billions more to maintain this carrier strike force annually. European governments are reluctant to spend money on their military right now, and I certainly do not see the political will in Europe to spend it on a new program like this one.

Is Russia About To Decommission Its Only Aircraft Carrier?

Russian Aircraft Carrier Admiral Kuznetsov

David Axe, National Interest: Russia's Only Aircraft Carrier Might Be Headed for the Scrapper

The Russian navy might decommission its only aircraft without directly replacing the vessel, leaving Moscow’s fleet without any prospect of at-sea air cover for the first time in decades.

The Russian navy might decommission its only aircraft without directly replacing the vessel, leaving Moscow’s fleet without any prospect of at-sea air cover for the first time in decades.

Admiral Kuznetsov, the Russian navy’s sole flattop, in October 2018 suffered serious damage at the 82nd Repair Shipyard in Roslyakovo, a northern port city, when the PD-50 dry-dock sank while Kuznetsov was aboard for repairs.

Dry-docks lift ships out of the water, allowing workers to access their lower hulls for deep maintenance.

Swedish-built PD-50 was the only large dry-dock capable of supporting the Russian northern fleet’s largest warships. Russia's other large dry-docks are thousands of miles from the fleet's main northern bases.

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WNU Editor:  The trend in the Russian navy is to build small and heavily armed ships. The aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov just does not not fit in their plans anymore.

A Catamaran Aircraft Carrier?

The U.S. has purchased and leased some catamaran ships, but nothing nearly the size of the proposed Russian aircraft carrier. The HSV 2 in the photo has a displacement of less than 5 percent the size of the Russian design. (U.S. Navy)

TASS: Russia's ship design bureau comes up with catamaran aircraft carrier concept

The manufacturer stated that the ship’s underwater part is the project's 'key distinguishing feature'

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. The Krylov State Research Center has come up with a fundamentally new design concept of what may become Russia’s future semi-catamaran aircraft carrier, the center’s spokesman told TASS.

The model of a future non-nuclear multirole aircraft carrier was presented for the first time at the Army-2018 forum at the end of August. The proposed project has no name yet.

"The semi-catamaran design of the ship’s underwater part is the project’s key distinguishing feature," the spokesman said.

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Update: Russia is proposing a revolutionary catamaran carrier (We Are The Mighty)

WNU Editor: I am skeptical that it will ever be built.

The Age Of The Aircraft Carrier Isn't Over (Yet)

Robert Farley, National Interest: Why the Age of the Aircraft Carrier Isn't Over (Yet)

The biggest threat to the future of the aircraft carrier lies not in missiles or torpedoes, but in the enormous combined cost of the ships, their escorts, and their air wings. This is a problem that has not improved over the past century; carriers have grown ever more expensive, increasing the strain on defense budgets and national governments.

HMS Furious, the first real aircraft carrier, entered service in early 1918. A converted cruiser, she displaced about 20,000 tons, and flew about half a dozen Sopwith Camels, an aircraft with a range of about 150 miles and a weapons payload just short of 100 pounds. Twenty-five years later, Furious could carry 36 aircraft, ranging at least twice as far with weapon loads of around 2,000 pounds. Her larger, purpose built cousins could carry double the number of aircraft. Armored flight decks, improved anti-aircraft armament, and better damage control procedures protected many of these later carriers from attacks that would sink their older brethren.

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WNU Editor:  It may not be over yet .... but the high cost that is involved in running them will limit their numbers in the future.