China's mini-aircraft carrier: a technical masterpiece or a technological "crutch"?
It’s strange, but the US military fashion trendsetters, who currently have the most powerful fleet There is no ship like the Sichuan in the world. And although it is the first of its kind, it will certainly not be the last. This is evidenced by all the plans that China is implementing today.
On December 27, 2024, at the Hudong Shipyard, just outside the sprawling city of Shanghai, the Chinese Navy launched one of the world's largest and most innovative warships: the Type 076, named Sichuan.
Named after the Chinese province of the same name, the Sichuan looks like a flat-decked amphibious assault ship capable of deploying Marines ashore using helicopters and landing craft, but it has one special feature: it has an electromagnetic catapult that can launch carrier-based aircraft and drones.
But the emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles and the assessment of their effectiveness is the meaning of their use in the navy, ships capable of launching and receiving drones in large quantities, will become vital elements of the fleet.
For example, Taiwan is not far from China's coast in maritime terms. The complicated relationship between China and Taiwan is no secret, and the West believes that one of the goals of China's four-decade military buildup is to create a force capable of successfully invading Taiwan.
The strategy is clear: to capture the island, it will be necessary to cross the Taiwan Strait, seize the beaches, ports and airports, and then land a large amphibious force to suppress resistance and seize the island. At the forefront of the attack will be eight brigades of the People's Liberation Army Marine Corps, which will ensure the solution of all combat tasks.
"Sichuan" is intended to serve as a delivery vehicle.
The warship, 260 meters long, with a flight deck width of 45 meters and a displacement of 40 tons, can carry more than 000 marines and transport them to the coastline both by sea and by air.
The Sichuan is designed to accommodate a fleet of medium- and heavy-lift helicopters to ferry marines and their weapons to shore. In addition, the ship can act as a platform for controlling landing craft, such as the Type 726 Mustang hovercraft. For this purpose, the Sichuan is equipped with a well deck, that is, a stern section that allows landing craft to enter the Sichuan, load dry, then fill the compartment with water again and exit with equipment and troops.
The Sichuan is also a carrier aircraft carrier. drones. The ship is equipped with electromagnetic catapults capable of lifting fixed-wing aircraft into the air, and three rows of braking devices for the safe return of the aircraft after flight. Three elevators deliver aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck.
The electromagnetic catapult makes the Sichuan a unique ship. In general, there are quite a few aircraft carriers in the world that launch planes using a ski-jump or a steam catapult, but only two ships are equipped with an electromagnetic catapult so far: the US Navy's Gerald R. Ford and the Chinese Navy's Fujian. The Sichuan is the third ship in the world and the first landing ship equipped with an EMALS catapult.
How do electromagnetic catapults work?
The aircraft is attached to a special trolley, which is located on rails along which magnets are installed. These magnets create a very strong field that accelerates the trolley with the aircraft attached to it to the speed necessary for takeoff, and the aircraft lifts off from the deck.
The main advantage of an electromagnetic catapult over steam catapults is that acceleration can be very precisely controlled by changing the strength of the magnetic field depending on the weight of the device. A fighter will weigh much more than a reconnaissance drone, so if you accelerate a UAV like an airplane, it can be damaged and disabled.
In addition, electromagnetic catapults have far fewer moving parts than classic steam catapults, are less prone to error, and require less maintenance. Electromagnets also charge faster than steam generation, so EMALS can launch more rockets in a single period of time.
The catapult was hidden at the opening ceremony. It may not be fully operational yet, or China wants to prevent its technology from leaking out.
The ship is designed to carry attack drones, with its primary armament being Hongdu GJ-11 Sharp Sword unmanned combat aircraft. The jet-powered GJ-11 is said to be faster and better armed than the US Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper drones. It also has a high stealth capability, allowing it to evade radar as it penetrates enemy airspace.
There is also speculation, though so far unconfirmed, that the GJ-11 could be equipped with rockets class "air-to-air". Accordingly, the "Sharp Sword" will be able not only to perform independent flights, but also to support Chinese J-20 and J-35 aircraft as a wingman in combat. The second pilot in the J-20 cockpit could act as the UAV operator, evaluating the data transmitted by the reconnaissance aircraft or monitoring the drone's target acquisition and giving the order to open fire.
Here, however, we should never forget the sad experience of using the S-70 UAV by the Russian Aerospace Forces. The drone was shot down by a missile from its own aircraft when control was intercepted by the enemy from the ground.
In addition to the GJ-11, the Sichuan's hangars can accommodate the WZ-7 reconnaissance drone and the smaller and less powerful CASC Rainbow unmanned attack aircraft.
The very wide deck indirectly confirms the presence of large aircraft on board, that is, it is believed that the Sichuan was created "for growth", for aircraft and UAVs of the future. For example, for the J-35, and this is a rather large aircraft.
In general, the Sichuan is a leader in size. Yes, its displacement is announced at 40 thousand tons, but the Americans believe that the Chinese deliberately underestimated the tonnage to create a false impression of the ship's combat capabilities. The War Zone experts generally estimated the displacement of the Type 076 at 50 thousand tons, which makes the Sichuan truly the largest landing ship in the world.
For comparison: the UDC "America" is 257 meters long, 32 meters wide, and has a displacement of 45 tons. The Italian "Trieste" has a deck 600 meters long and 230 meters wide (and a ski jump). And both UDCs are capable of launching and receiving the naval version of the F-36B.
UDC "America"
The fact that the GJ-11 is a frankly large aircraft (length 12,2 meters, wingspan 14,4 meters) and is quite comparable to modern aircraft (the F-35B has a length of 15,57 meters and a wingspan of 10,67 meters) and even surpasses them, such a wide deck as the Sichuan guarantees sufficient space for maneuvering unmanned vehicles of such dimensions.
There is no reliable information yet that China plans to use conventional aircraft on the new ship. However, if such plans are announced, the ship will really be ready for this both technically and in terms of crew training, because working with the GJ-11 will provide a sufficient level of training. Moreover, all the conditions have been created for this: the Sichuan is built according to the latest configuration, with two towers. It is believed that the distribution of ship control and services in one tower, and flights in another, has a positive effect on the organization of service on the ship.
The twin-turret configuration is considered modern and is also used in Western countries. The Italian UDC Trieste and the British Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers are built using the same scheme.
weaponry
Naturally, like all ships of this class, the Sichuan lacks strike weapons. But it has a fairly decent set of defensive weapons capable of protecting the ship from missiles or drones that break through to it, but in general, the protection of such ships should be taken over by specialized ships such as destroyers and frigates.
How will Sichuan defend itself?
3 launchers for HQ-10 missiles, located on the stern of the ship. In general, there is enough space on the Sichuan to accommodate even more. But the option with 24 missiles per launcher (and this is an analogue of the American RIM-116) is quite good for protecting the ship. HQ-10 missiles have a range of up to 9 km and are a very effective weapon to combat small-sized targets, such as anti-ship missiles and drones.
Stern with Type 076 SAM system with HQ-10 (left and right) and Type 1130 SAM (middle)
Also visible in the photos are 4 decoy launchers, 2 on each side of the ship. They are usually loaded with decoy missiles, which are used to interfere with the infrared and radar homing heads of enemy missiles.
One of the decoy launchers can be seen at the bottom left.
The Sichuan is armed with three Type 1130 CIWS - on the left, back and right of the ship's deck, covering a sector of about 300 degrees. The 11-barrel 30mm automatic cannons have a rate of fire of up to 11 rounds per minute and an effective range of up to 000 km.
Each ship's anti-aircraft artillery The Type 1130 has its own radar, so it can independently engage incoming airborne targets. The system is considered the last active line of defense against anti-ship missiles and kamikaze drones, but it can also be used to engage waterborne targets such as boats and floating kamikaze drones.
Just a few years ago, such anti-aircraft artillery systems were considered almost an anachronism, but everything changed with the advent of unmanned kamikaze boats (UBK), cheaper than torpedoes, but no less effective. And today, the presence of a ZAK/ZRAK on deck is a relative guarantee that the UKB will not reach the side of the ship.
Application
While the combination of an amphibious assault ship and an aircraft carrier isn’t exactly innovative, it does give the Chinese navy more flexibility in how it carries out its missions. If the initial mission were to land an amphibious assault, the ship would have transport helicopters and hovercraft. Once the Marines were ashore, the Sichuan could reconfigure itself as an air platform and use its attack drones to suppress enemy defenses while the Marines took up positions.
If, for example, the task is to blockade Taiwan in order to disrupt the island's supply, unmanned aerial vehicles can be used to patrol the airspace and guide ships with boarding teams that will inspect the ships using helicopters and small boats. And the Sichuan itself can carry anti-submarine helicopters on deck and in hangars to search for those same submarines.
Here, of course, many may ask: isn't there some overkill in the ship's concept? An electromagnetic catapult for launching aircraft is a complex, expensive and luxurious thing for an aircraft carrier working with hundreds of aircraft of different classes, and here we have a landing ship.
Here in the US Marine Corps they use UDCs, which use F-35B fighters with short takeoff and vertical landing, for takeoff and landing this aircraft does not require catapults and braking devices. For use with UDCs, you can’t think of anything better, at first glance.
China does not have such aircraft, and it seems that it does not even expect to have any. The reason for this is a certain lag in engines, which will not allow the Celestial Empire to establish at least the design of aircraft such as VTOL aircraft.
That is, there is a solution to the problem using other technologies. However, if China has the ability to build a number of ships with electromagnetic catapults and use aircraft with them, perhaps this is a more interesting move than building no less technologically advanced and complex VTOL aircraft. Of course, if you turn to Russia for help, this problem can be solved, but the choice itself is not so critical.
It's like a steam catapult and a ski jump: some build with a catapult, and some with a ski jump. And there are no fewer ships with ski jumps than with catapults.
So the question of whether China needs to develop and build its own VTOL aircraft remains open. It should be noted that the F-35B does not particularly shine in the skies over the sea, and the naval aviation The US still prefers the time-tested F/A-18 in its latest upgrade. And the VTOL is used by the Marine Corps, whose ships are not capable of operating normal aircraft. So who plugs the technological holes how – that’s another question.
"Sichuan" is a very interesting phenomenon: a landing mini-aircraft carrier and a maxi-drone carrier. Such ships have a certain future, at least the Turks are building their own similar ship. It is clear that they are not doing this because life is good, but attack unmanned vehicles have a very big future. Especially at sea, where it will be much easier for them to operate, and here's why: who or what is the main opponent of attack UAVs today? The correct answer is EWOn land, it is easier to work on neutralizing UAVs: electronic warfare systems are easier to deploy, easier to camouflage, easier to give them target designation.
On the water, especially on the open ocean, a ship has nowhere and nothing to camouflage itself with. Therefore, such a target is perfectly visible from great distances. Yes, the ship has its own electronic warfare systems, its own Defense. The whole point is that a UAV as large as the GJ-11 can approach the closest safe distance and launch missiles at a ship without being detected by its surveillance equipment. And then go away, leaving the ship's crew to deal with the suddenly emerging threat.
At sea, UAVs have a better chance of being an effective means of delivery than on land, so drone carriers have certain prospects. The functional commissioning of the Sichuan is not expected before 2026, I am sure that many interested eyes will be watching the tests. The experience of the Chinese may be of interest to other countries. And it may well turn out that the Chinese ship will become the subject of study in terms of experience of use and an example to follow.
This is, of course, something that has "gone too far", but what to do if "Sichuan" is a really interesting project? Yes, at first glance it seems like a very "universal soldier", but isn't this exactly what many people in the world are striving for today?
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