Through the publication of new images on social media, open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts have begun to report on how China has made progress in the construction of what would be the fourth aircraft carrier to equip its Navy, which would be known as Type 004 and which is speculated to be larger than its predecessors. According to the information accompanying said multimedia material, these are works being carried out in the Dalian shipyards, where activity is already observed in relation to the initial construction of the first sections of the ship.
Expanding on the scarce known details, it is worth noting that the images have been taken by civil satellites and what appear to be local observers, being the only material available so far due to the lack of further confirmation from official sources. According to what can be inferred from them, analysts have pointed out that it would be a large ship, even with greater displacement than that held by the Fujian aircraft carrier that the Chinese Navy is in the process of adding to its ranks. According to initial estimates, we would be facing a design of between 100 and 120 thousand tons, which would even rival the new Gerald R. Ford class of the U.S. Navy.
On the other hand, it is useful to highlight that the project has not only been a subject of discussion on social media, but also of inquiries by the local press to officials of the Chinese Ministry of Defense. Particularly, the medium Global Times reported at the end of September that it raised these questions to Zhang Xiaogang, who serves as spokesperson within the aforementioned portfolio. The response obtained at that time was that the spokesperson had no further information about the supposed construction of a fourth aircraft carrier, adding however that the country continues working on the development of its aircraft carriers in support of national security.
In line with this uncertainty, it should be noted that official sources have not yet confirmed the technical characteristics that the next flagship of the Chinese Navy would have, which limits the possibilities of making a broader description about it. Within the realm of theoretical speculation, the main debates would indicate that the new design would include a nuclear propulsion system instead of the conventional ones that equip the institution’s other three aircraft carriers, as well as an electromagnetic catapult system that takes advantage of the experience obtained in the construction of the Type 003 Fujian.
Regardless of this, it is also important to remember that the Chinese Navy is working steadily on the expansion of its naval bases in the Indo-Pacific, which leads one to think about the need to expand and modernize the current facilities to be able to receive a greater quantity of ships. As we reported in May of this same year, an illustrative example of this can be found in the Yuchi Naval Base in the city of Qingdao, a port that was home to the Liaoning aircraft carrier on various occasions. This is also in line with the force’s growing naval activity in the region, with increasingly ambitious deployments in terms of scale and scope, in which the Asian Giant seeks to project its growing naval power.
*Image credits to whom it may concern.
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