Over the past decade, the progress of China's aircraft carrier programme has caused consternation in capitals of major powers in the Indo-Pacific region, from Washington to Tokyo to Canberra to New Delhi.
Last week, THE WEEK reported that the Indian Navy has sought accelerated delivery of its indigenous aircraft carrier even as China is all set to commission its first home-built carrier.
But now, a Hong Kong-based news outlet is reporting even Beijing is going slow on the next phase of its aircraft carrier programme. The South China Morning Post reported on Thursday that the Chinese Navy has "put on hold" plans to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
The decision has been attributed to the technical challenges and massive costs of building a nuclear-powered vessel displacing over 50,000 tonnes. China has been building nuclear-powered submarines since the 1970s, but an aircraft carrier would need more powerful nuclear reactors.
The South China Morning Post reported that developing a reactor for use on a large warship is more challenging than making one for a submarine.
China's existing aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which was obtained from Ukraine, uses steam turbines, as does China's first indigenously built aircraft carrier, which has been widely referred to as the 'Type 001A'. Both vessels displace over 50,000 tonnes in weight and are larger than the Indian Navy's INS Vikramaditya.
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Both the Chinese vessels and INS Vikramaditya use a 'ski-jump' to launch aircraft. Fighter aircraft need to use their own power to take off from a ski-jump and thus have limited range and payload using this method of launch, compared with catapults used by the US Navy. Catapults impart additional momentum to the aircraft, enabling it to carry more weapons and fuel.
In 2018, China began construction of a second indigenous aircraft carrier, which is expected to be larger than the Type-001A and has electromagnetic catapults. The South China Morning Post reported that the Chinese Navy would begin building a third indigenous carrier, also featuring electromagnetic catapults, “as early as 2021”, but it would still be conventionally powered.
In addition to near unlimited range, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers have significantly greater space for storing weaponry, aviation fuel and other supplies to maximise operational time. Moreover, the additional power from the nuclear reactors help operate the electromagnetic or steam catapults. But nuclear-powered aircraft carriers come at a price; the US Navy's newest aircraft carrier, which uses electromagnetic catapults, has seen its construction cost balloon to over $13 billion!
