Japan Institute for National Fundamentals
https://jinf.jp/

Speaking out

  • HOME
  • Speaking Out
  • 【#1318】China’s 1st Nuclear Aircraft Carrier Under Construction?
Maki Nakagawa

【#1318】China’s 1st Nuclear Aircraft Carrier Under Construction?

Maki Nakagawa ／ 2025.12.03 (Wed)


December 1, 2025

　
China is building a large vessel, believed to be its fourth aircraft carrier, at a dockyard in Dalian, Liaoning Province. Satellite images confirm that frames similar to those for a nuclear reactor containment vessel have been installed, suggesting a strong possibility that China has begun to build its first nuclear aircraft carrier.

Frames inside the hull resemble those for a reactor containment vessel

The construction site is a dockyard owned by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Group Co., where the Shandong, the first Chinese-built aircraft carrier and the second among the three existing Chinese carriers, was constructed.

Since February this year, a keel block to support the hull during shipbuilding has been confirmed at the dockyard. The keel block has been installed over a total length of more than 270 meters, suggesting preparations for building a ship as large as an aircraft carrier. Satellite images on November 10 show that a hull component that measures 150 meters long and 43 meters wide was assembled. Installed inside the hull component are two frames that each measure 16 meters long and 14 meters wide. Such frames were never confirmed during the construction of the Shandong and the Fujian, both of which are conventionally powered aircraft carriers. The Fujian was commissioned on November 5 as China’s third aircraft carrier and the second constructed domestically.

Satellite images of the Newport News Shipyard in Virginia, where U.S. Navy nuclear aircraft carriers are built, show two frames — each measuring 16 meters long and 13 meters wide — at the position for a nuclear reactor containment vessel for an aircraft carrier under construction. The frames are very similar in size and shape to those observed at the Dalian dockyard.

Service entry possible in early 2030s

Last month, China commissioned the Fujian with an electromagnetic catapult for launching aircraft, establishing a three-carrier system. However, the other two are ski-jump carriers that cannot operate beyond the first island chain (from Japan to Taiwan and the Philippines) in wartime. The three carriers with different capabilities cannot necessarily complete a rotation system covering maintenance checks, training, and mission. Furthermore, the conventionally powered Fujian raises questions about its ability to provide stable power supply required for the continuous launch of aircraft, in contrast to nuclear-powered carriers.

Therefore, China is aiming for a catapult-type nuclear aircraft carrier as its next carrier. From groundbreaking to commissioning, the Shandon took six years and one month and the Fujian seven years. If the large ship being built at the Dalian dockyard is a nuclear aircraft carrier, China will have an aircraft carrier as capable as a U.S. nuclear carrier in the early 2030s. Furthermore, China may continue to build nuclear carriers to complete a rotation system with three nuclear carriers toward its goal of achieving a world-class military by 2049 to mark the 100th anniversary of the People’s Republic.

How will the Chinese Navy with increasing aircraft carriers confront the U.S. Navy now with 11 nuclear carriers and change its operations around Japan toward the goal? We must watch the construction of aircraft carriers at Chinese dockyards, the functional status of the Fujian’s electromagnetic catapult, and the training status of the three existing Chinese aircraft carriers.

Maki Nakagawa is a researcher at the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals and a former commander of the Basic Intelligence Unit, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.