/kloc-In August, 2008, the American Naval Institute (USNI) quoted the simulation data of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Evaluation (CSBA) on the development trend of China's navy in 2030, and thought that by then, China's navy would make two key breakthroughs in the field of aircraft carriers, namely, the number of aircraft carriers in service would reach five, and the aircraft carriers under construction would break through the two technical thresholds of nuclear power equipment and 65,438+10,000 tons of displacement.

Coincidentally, the US National Review website also wrote that due to the excellent performance of the new generation 003 aircraft carrier, in addition to the first ship Fujian, two other 003s are ready to start construction, thus achieving the goal of serving before 2030. Obviously, stimulated by the launch of the Fujian ship in June this year, the internal public opinion in the United States was very surprised at the development speed and performance improvement of the Chinese aircraft carrier, and all aspects were closely watching and analyzing it. Then, looking at the development of domestic aircraft carriers, can we really achieve a great leap in equipment scale and technical level in 2030?

The launch of the Fujian ship completely changed the outside world's perception of domestic aircraft carriers.

In many documents, "Varyag" aircraft carrier left by the Soviet Navy is regarded as the starting point for the development of domestic aircraft carriers, which is true from the perspective of hardware development, but the history of joint development of domestic aircraft carriers by the navy and design units is much earlier than the outside world knows. 1in the spring of 970, the navy received instructions from its superiors about the construction of aircraft carriers, and immediately instructed the Naval Research Institute to collect information on the development and operation of aircraft carriers around the world.

In May of that year, multi-department cooperation completed the report "Preliminary Opinions on Building Aircraft Carrier". This is the first time that an official unit of our country has issued an official document on the construction of a domestic aircraft carrier, which can be said to be the beginning of the naval aircraft carrier dream. Of course, due to historical factors and the domestic technical level at that time, there were many problems in this report.

The "Varyag" aircraft carrier is often regarded as the origin of domestic aircraft carriers.

1in July, 1970, the navy held a meeting on the construction of domestic aircraft carriers. According to the report delivered before, the development of aircraft carriers was divided into four aspects: operational requirements, overall performance research, carrier-based aircraft design and carrier-based weapons demonstration. This is the famous domestic aircraft carrier "Project 707".

Its core idea is to develop an escort aircraft carrier with a tonnage of about 30,000 tons and a maximum speed of 35 knots, carrying about 50 fighters and helicopters. Considering the technical difficulty and complicated structure of special equipment such as ship-borne catapult, landing aid and arresting equipment, it is decided to adopt vertical take-off and landing technology for fighter aircraft to reduce the size and tonnage of aircraft carrier and shorten the development cycle.

Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft was all the rage in the 1970s.

In addition, the aircraft carrier will be equipped with medium-range ship-to-air missiles, short-range ship-to-air missiles and small-caliber anti-aircraft guns as self-defense means, and the ship-borne helicopters will be responsible for anti-submarine missions. Most importantly, because it is difficult for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to have anti-ship capability, it entrusts this task to an aircraft carrier to carry 500-600 km anti-ship missiles, so as to achieve the function of a carrier-based bomber.

In June 5438+10, the Aviation Research Institute officially launched the vertical takeoff and landing aircraft project. The original plan was based on the J-6 fighter, which was divided into two schemes: lift engine and lift fan. The former plans to install two 9 12 lift turbojet engines with a thrust of 3 tons inside the J-6 fuselage, while the latter plans to install four TF-1 lift fans driven by turbojet -9 and with a lift of 2.25 tons on both sides of the J-6 fuselage. As for the overall development progress of the aircraft carrier, it is roughly planned to complete the design before 1972, start construction at 1973 and complete the service at 1975.

J -6 lift fan model for science fiction modeling

Without careful scrutiny, it can be found that the domestic aircraft carrier planned in the "707" project was a project that could not be completed at that time (in fact, no country can build an aircraft carrier that meets all the design indicators). This is a misjudgment of the lack of understanding of large warships, especially aircraft carriers.

In fact, under the condition of comprehensive preparation, the "707" project only lasted until September 197 1, and was replaced by the domestic nuclear submarine project, and finally officially ended on 1975, the first attempt of the China navy in the field of aircraft carriers came to an end. Now it seems that the "707" project lacks a clear understanding of the application of aircraft carriers, and the performance standards far exceed the technical capabilities at that time, and the final failure is inevitable.

In fact, the greatest significance of the navy's first attempt to develop an aircraft carrier is to change the domestic cognition of aircraft carriers from perceptual to rational. In particular, many generals in the navy have more truly realized the significance of aircraft carriers during the preparation and implementation of the project, which has played a key role in the development of domestic aircraft carriers in the future.

09 1 nuclear submarine replaced the "707" project and became the core project of the navy.

From 1975 to 1983, China has made little progress in the field of aircraft carriers. However, at the naval equipment technology conference in June 1984+0, the call for developing domestic aircraft carriers reappeared. Compared with the last recklessness, the navy calmly set the operational target of the aircraft carrier as the surface formation and air fighter activities covering the South China Sea.

In addition, through contact with western countries, the navy also realized the need to further increase its understanding of aircraft carriers, so it purchased retired aircraft carriers from other countries through multiple channels, and finally harvested the "Melbourne" 1985 retired by the Australian Navy in May. After the "Melbourne" arrived at Huangpu Shipyard, the navy organized more than 30 professional technicians to conduct a comprehensive study on it, and carefully understood the main structure of the aircraft carrier and some dismantled shipboard equipment, among which the steam catapult was the most concerned.

The "Melbourne" aircraft carrier originally belonging to the Australian Navy.

According to the memory of some researchers, the steam catapult on the Melbourne was basically complete, but the British aircraft carrier, which was built during World War II and completed in 1955, was completely out of date after 30 years (in fact, it was the only steam catapult really put into use in Britain), and it had little technical reference value. However, the experience of personally experiencing a complete aircraft carrier and mapping all the data is still very valuable for the development of domestic aircraft carriers and has played a stepping stone.

1986, the navy, which further mastered the basic data performance of Melbourne, seriously discussed the power scheme of the domestic aircraft carrier, and finally chose the most mature and reliable conventional power scheme among 05 1 conventional steam power, 094 nuclear submarine reactor to be launched soon, and nuclear-conventional hybrid power. By June of 1987 and 1, the concept of a 50,000-ton aircraft carrier with steam power and steam catapults was initially formed, and the development of domestic aircraft carriers finally moved from ideal to reality.

歼 -7 once had the opportunity to develop a ship-borne model.

However, due to the influence of the economic level and foreign strategic situation during this period, the development order of the army, the air force, the Second Artillery Corps and the navy was clearly defined in the army development principle planned by the superior in February 1987, which made it impossible for the newly started 50,000-ton domestic aircraft carrier to obtain sufficient development resources. To this end, the navy actively strives for the superior, saying that due to economic conditions, it can not approve the model for the time being, but the pre-research of aircraft carrier demonstration must continue to advance to ensure that it can be launched quickly when necessary. This requirement was finally recognized by the superior.

The so-called three-step development plan of aircraft carrier, which people relish, is that "the seventh five-year plan begins to demonstrate, the eighth five-year plan carries out research, and the ninth five-year plan goes to the model", which is also implemented at this stage. 1988 12 "Feasibility Study on Developing Aircraft Carrier and Carrier-based Aircraft System in China" was launched, and the long-awaited aircraft carrier demonstration work of the Navy was finally on the right track.

05 1 destroyer steam turbine power is too large.

1989 65438+ 10, the navy raised more than 40 million yuan to complete the startup of the domestic aircraft carrier, which is the second domestic aircraft carrier development project-"891project". It marks the end of the "707 Project" 14 years later, the domestic aircraft carrier finally set sail again, and formulated a clearer design index to directly develop a 50,000-ton steam ejection conventional power aircraft carrier.

In addition, the navy, which has been in constant contact with the development experience and advanced technology of aircraft carriers in western countries, has realized the importance of supporting the key subsystems of aircraft carriers. In addition to defining the development plan of aircraft carriers, it has also made preparations in the three core areas of carrier aircraft, aircraft carrier commander and aircraft carrier strength. Specifically, before the "89 1 Project" was approved, China had considered buying 27,000 tons of Essex-class aircraft carriers from the United States, and based on this, it preliminarily studied the possibility of boarding the J-7, J-8 and J-5. Although the outsourcing project finally failed, based on its carrier-based aircraft development experience, the Navy decided to take the J-7 as the carrier-based aircraft of "89 1 Project" and the J-10, which was approved by 1986, as the further development model.

At that time, the navy was looking forward to the improvement of J-10 into a carrier-based aircraft.

As for the aircraft carrier commander, of course, it is a famous pilot captain training class, which has been mentioned in many documents. The development process of aircraft carrier power plant is quite tortuous. At that time, the relatively mature marine power plant in China was only 453 steam power used by 05 1 destroyer, and its powerful output power made the 051"13/"Nanjing ship reach an ultra-high speed of 37.95 knots during the trial. In fact, it is 3000 tons for destroyer 05 1.

However, it also means that the power supply has a greater application prospect. As long as the number is increased, the power demand of domestic aircraft carriers can be initially solved.

Type 052 Shijiazhuang ship is equipped with LM-2500 gas turbine made in America.

However, in the late 1980s, the trend of steam power being replaced by gas power was very obvious. China also introduced LM-2500 gas turbine made in the United States as the power plant of the next generation destroyer. However, gas turbines are not suitable power for large warships like aircraft carriers. In order to ensure that the aircraft carrier has a reliable steam-powered device when needed, the navy deliberately went against the trend in the late 1990s and built the 05 1B steam-powered destroyer.

It continues the technical route of 453 series steam power, maintains the normal update of related technologies, and finally plays a key role in the development of aircraft carriers.

China's naval aircraft carrier and amphibious platform have begun to take shape.

Just as the "89 1 Project" was progressing smoothly, the national economic level was obviously improved, and the navy was getting closer and closer to the planned 50,000-ton steam-powered aircraft carrier, the huge Soviet Union fell apart at 199 1. The subsequent changes in the strategic environment, as well as a large number of advanced technologies and equipment left over by the Soviet navy, had a great impact on the "89 1 Project", which eventually led to an abrupt stop without concrete results, and the development of domestic aircraft carriers entered the third stage. Limited by space, the details of aircraft carrier development at this stage need to be described below.