Qianjiang Evening recently released an article on China’s Type 001A aircraft carrier being built, which is based on an interview with Senior Colonel Cao Weidong coming from Chinese Navy Academic Institute.
According to Cao’s saying, Type 001A homemade aircraft carrier will be a bit larger than Liaoning in tonnage, and also adopt ski-jump take-off and conventional power.
Besides, he unveiled that China’s Type 001A homemade aircraft carrier will put emphasis on stealthy performance in design of the body and island of the carrier. And radar absorbing materials will be used for its chimneys and antennas.
Besides, compared to Liaoning using old boilers and steam turbines, the new aircraft carrier will use better homemade ones.
And as Liaoning’s hangar was lessened by position for SS-N-19 antiship missiles used by the original carrier Varyag, type 001A aircraft carrier will have a larger hangar by removing such position in design.
Military expert Du Songtao even thinks that type 001A’s hangar might be as large as French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
Furthermore, the new homemade aircraft carrier will have larger ski-jumping flight deck to load large carrier-based aircraft J-15, as well as more aircraft stands. As a result, maximum single sortie ability of 001A aircraft carrier might be 23 compared to carrier Liaoning’s 18.
Besides, 001A should have much smaller island than Liaoning, of which the island is many times the size of Kitty Hawk Class. If that’s true, three more fighters could be parked on the deck.
