Recent photos, revealed on Chinese social networks, show the considerable technological advances in Chinese shipbuilding in recent years, to the point of now flirting with the most advanced Western ships. From the Fujian aircraft carrier to the new Type 039C submarine, what do these new Chinese ships tell us about the technological level reached by Beijing in recent years?
In this section:
At the beginning of the 90s, Chinese military shipbuilding lagged far behind its Western and Soviet/Russian counterparts. Thus, the Type 053H1G Jianghu-V frigates, which entered service between 1993 and 1995, carried only 8 YJ-8 anti-ship missiles, an illicit copy of the French MM-38 Exocet, naval artillery and anti-rocket launchers. -submarines, an armament that was found on Western units dating from the 60s or 70s.
Chinese shipbuilding has made up for 30 years of technological delay in the last 30 years
In fact, for a long time, the generally widespread perception of Chinese naval power was far from flattering, particularly in the West. Convinced that they were of their technological superiority, and of their advance in this field compared to Chinese production, American and European industrialists and military personnel were largely slow to react to the rise in power and rapid technological progress of Chinese shipyards, and with them, naval forces of the People's Liberation Army.
Indeed, in barely 30 years, they have not only made up for the 25 to 30 years of technological delay that they had vis-à-vis Western navies and shipyards, but they are now able to develop and implement in service equipment as efficient as the most recent and advanced productions of the Western world.
Several recent observations thus corroborate this worrying assertion, to say the least, while beyond the obvious technological advances, Chinese shipyards can also boast incomparably higher production rates than in Western shipyards.
The Fujian aircraft carrier, the largest and most powerful non-American aircraft carrier on the planet
The first demonstration of this Chinese technological mastery came from new aircraft carrier Type 003 Fujian, a ship weighing more than 80 tons, equipped with electromagnetic catapults, and a powerful defense and command system, making it the most powerful modern aircraft carrier, after the American super aircraft carriers of the Nimitz and Ford classes.
At the same time, the Chinese Navy admitted to service the first three Type 075 class assault helicopter carrier, counterpart of the US Navy's new America-class LHD. 237 meters long and with a tonnage of 40 tonnes, they are designed to land 000 Chinese marines and their 800 vehicles using three hovercraft and around thirty helicopters, giving Beijing capacity to long distance power projection held until now only by the US Navy.
75% of this article remains to read,
Subscribe to access it!
The Classic subscriptions provide access to
articles in their full version, and without advertising,
from 6,90 €.
Newsletter subscription
Register for the Meta-Defense Newsletter to receive the
latest fashion articles daily or weekly