Without a doubt, the most advanced aircraft carriers on the planet, they will cost approximately $50 billion to build. Kennedy), CVN-80 (Enterprise) and CVN-81 (Doris Miller) are slated for delivery in September 2024, March 2028 and February 2032 respectively. The remaining three Ford Class carriers, CVN-79 (John F. Ford (CVN 78) was the US Navy’s first newly designed aircraft carrier in 40 years and was commissioned into service in July 2017. It will also examine how the US Navy’s existing carrier fleet must evolve and look at the challenges faced by future aircraft carriers from advanced long-range and hypersonic weapons while operating in contested areas. The FC-30 Task Force will reimagine the future of the aircraft carrier and carrier-based naval aviation (manned and unmanned) for 2030 and beyond, over the course of a six month study. The United States announced the creation of a Blue-Ribbon Future Carrier 2030 (FC-2030) Task Force for the US Navy in March 2020. The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning in the Western Pacific during a training exercise ( Photo: /Photo by Zhang Lei) which limits their ability to operate larger and heavier types. The Liaoning is the refurbished ex-Soviet Navy carrier (Varyag) and was commissioned into service in September 2012, after an extensive refit at the Dalian shipyard in China’s Liaoning province.īoth aircraft carriers feature ski-jump designs and do not have launch catapults for aircraft operations. The 50,000 tonne carrier was launched in April 2017 and entered service in December 2019. Construction of China’s 2nd carrier, Shandong began in November 2013 at a shipyard of the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp. The Liaoning and Shandong can carry 24 and 36 Shenyang J-15 carrier-borne fighters (the Chinese derivative of the Su-33) respectively. The PLA Navy presently operates two aircraft carriers, the CNS Shandong (Hull 17), which is based in Sanya near the South China Sea, while CNS Liaoning (Hull 16) is based in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong Province near the East China Sea, Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. The introduction of a stealthy fighter with near 5th-generation capabilities on a Chinese aircraft carrier will dramatically upgrade China's offensive capability. What is of even greater interest is that the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) appears set to introduce a new carrier-based fighter aircraft, the FC-31, on its new carrier.Ī full-size mockup of the F-31 was recently seen on a full-size mockup of the aircraft carrier. The conventionally powered Type 003 is being built at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai and is expected to be completed in 2023. In addition to having a larger air complement, the Type 003 will ditch the ski jump design of the indigenously developed Shandong for an electromagnetic catapult system, signalling China’s ability to incorporate state-of-the-art technologies into its military platforms. It is currently building its third indigenously developed carrier, the Type 003, which at an estimated 80,000 tonnes, will be larger than its existing carriers, CNS Liaoning and CNS Shandong. However, China has made rapid strides in military technology and has a stated intention to operate six aircraft carriers. The US currently has the lead in new aircraft carriers with four new Ford carriers under contract, which will remain the most modern warships to enter service this decade. Next-generation aircraft carrier programmes are already underway in the US, France, China and South Korea. Most other countries have only one or two carriers in service at any given time.īut as older aircraft carriers come to the end of their service life, or countries harbour ambitions to join the exclusive carrier club, a handful of countries are reimagining what the next generation of seagoing air bases will look like. The US boasts the largest number of aircraft carriers in service, at 11, followed by the UK with its two new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers built at a cost of $7.6 billion. But with flight decks large enough to accommodate three football pitches in some cases, they come with an enormous price tag and large support requirements, which may explain why only eight countries in the world currently operate them. What are the next aircraft carriers to be built?Īircraft Carrier battle groups are a potent symbol of military might allowing navies to project air power anywhere in the world. Truman (CVN 75) transit the Atlantic Ocean, June 4, 2020. Ford (CVN 78), the US Navy's first newly designed aircraft carrier in 40 years, and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. The Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R.
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