Guangdong, China: Satellite images show a mysterious new aircraft carrier built in the face of breakneck maritime expansion

Hong Kong
CNN
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China appears to have built a new and unusual aircraft carrier, intriguing experts with a potentially first-of-its-kind ship that could further boost Beijing’s rapidly growing naval power.

Satellite images taken by Planet Labs show a ship with a large, open flat roof under construction at Guangzhou Shipyard International on Longxue Island, southern Guangdong province.

This potential new aircraft carrier “has a somewhat unusual shape and size – much smaller than previous Chinese naval aircraft carriers,” said Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submarine commander and now a fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

But the ship is even smaller than the Type 075 amphibious assault ships used by Beijing’s navy, suggesting China may be building the world’s first “apparently civilian ‘aircraft carrier’ as a sort of oceanographic research vessel,” Shugart added.

The existence of the new ship was first reported by, among others, War zone.

China is producing increasingly advanced warships at a feverish pace, often rivaling the technology of U.S. aircraft carriers.

The Fujian aircraft carrier – by far the largest, most modern and most powerful aircraft carrier in China – he went to the sea for first trials earlier this year, and experts say it could join the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fleet by 2026.

The 80,000-ton aircraft carrier dwarfs the PLAN’s two active carriers, the 66,000-ton Shandong and 60,000-ton Liaoning, putting it in the supercar league. Only the United States Navy operates aircraft carriers larger than Fujian.

China has also made rapid progress in construction the world’s largest amphibious assault shipaccording to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Dubbed the Type 076, its flight deck measures approximately 260 meters (853 feet) by 52 meters (170 feet), which is more than 13,500 square meters – or nearly the area of ​​three U.S. soccer fields, the think tank said in its analysis satellite photos.

The Shanghai-built aircraft carrier Fujian and the Type 076 are the crown jewels of a military expansion that has seen Beijing grow its fleet to the largest in the world, having over 340 warships to its credit.

But the construction of a novel aircraft carrier in southern China could signal another shift toward Beijing’s promulgated “military-civilian fusion strategy that uses, for example, dual-use civil-military ships,” said Shugart, a former submarine commander.

The ship potentially “provides a low-cost complement to the PLA Navy’s low-threat environment operational capabilities and logistics capabilities,” said Carl Schuster, former director of operations of the U.S. Pacific Command Joint Intelligence Center.

Given its lightweight design, the ship could serve as a helicopter or drone carrier for the China Coast Guard, which is increasingly used as a quasi-military force, Schuster said.

“Having an air platform would expand (Coast Guard) surveillance capabilities in the remote waters of the southern South China Sea and potentially east of Taiwan,” Schuster added.

China launched large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in early October, flying record numbers of fighter jets and other combat aircraft around the island. The one-day military exercise, the latest in a series of war games conducted by Beijing recently against its neighbor, showed an unprecedented commitment by Coast Guard ships that operated in areas around Taiwan and its remote islands of Matsu and Dongyin, just off China’s southeastern coast.

“A new flattop would be a significant addition to any Coast Guard quarantine enforcement operations like the one potentially conducted two weeks ago and over the last two years,” Schuster said.

Beijing has become more assertive in its region, using the military to press its claims in the South China Sea and intimidate Taiwan – a self-governing democracy that the ruling Chinese Communist Party has promised to take over, by force if necessary.

But the new ship could also be very useful for humanitarian purposes, providing quick and cost-effective relief and evacuation in non-combat situations, Schuster said.

“It could also serve as a logistic support and repair ship during a landing operation after securing the beach,” the expert added.

“He is too weak to enter the disputed area of ​​the beach, but in desperate situations they could consider it.”

In another show of China’s growing naval power, Liaoning and Shandong completed their first-ever dual-carrier drills in late October, according to state news site Xinhua.

An aerial photo of the exercise showed the two carriers sailing side by side, with fighters overhead and at least 11 support ships from carrier strike groups behind.

The exercises, conducted in the South China Sea, “were aimed at strengthening the integrated combat capabilities of the aircraft carrier formation” and were “part of the regular combat training of the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation on the high seas,” Xinhua said.

Schuster, a former U.S. Navy captain, called the exercise “another indicator of the PLA Navy’s growing maritime capabilities.”

“Twin carrier operations add another level of complexity to fleet operations,” he said, and the exercise allows the fleet to test logistical requirements and coordinate communications between flotilla ships.

The state-owned Global Times daily quoted Chinese naval expert Song Zhongping as saying the exercises allowed the two aircraft carriers to “complement their strengths and consolidate their advantages.”

“Liaoning and Shandong may have different numbers of aircraft carried, different escort ships, and therefore distinct air defense, anti-submarine and anti-ship operations capabilities,” Song said in the Global Times report.