Hong Kong –

China appears to have built an unusual new aircraft carrier, intriguing experts with a potentially first-of-its-kind ship that could further increase Beijing’s rapidly expanding maritime power.

Satellite images from Planet Labs show a ship with a large open flat roof under construction at the Guangzhou International Shipyard on Longxue Island in the southern province of Guangdong.

This potential new aircraft carrier “is a somewhat unusual shape and size – much smaller than previous Chinese naval aircraft carriers,” said Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submarine commander and now a researcher at the Center for a New American Security.

But the ship is even smaller than the Type 075 amphibious assault ships used by Beijing’s navy, suggesting China may be building the world’s first apparently civilian “aircraft carrier” as a oceanographic research vessel,” Shugart added.

The existence of the new ship was first reported by The war zone.

China is producing increasingly advanced warships at a breakneck pace, often matching the technology of U.S. carriers.

The Fujian aircraft carrier – by far China’s largest, most modern and most powerful aircraft carrier to date – heading to the sea for its first trials earlier this year, with experts saying it could join the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fleet by 2026.

The 80,000-ton carrier dwarfs the PLAN’s two active carriers, the 66,000-ton Shandong and 60,000-ton Liaoning, putting it in the league of supercarriers. Only the US Navy operates aircraft carriers larger than the Fujian.

Naval merger

China has also made rapid progress in building the world’s largest amphibious assault shipaccording to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Named Type 076, its cockpit spans approximately 260 meters (853 feet) by 52 meters (170 feet), or more than 13,500 square meters, or almost the size of three American football fields, the group said reflection in its analysis of satellite images.

Built in Shanghai, the Fujian aircraft carrier and the Type 076 are the jewels of a military expansion which has seen Beijing develop its navy in the largest in the world, with more than 340 warships to its credit.

But the construction of a new aircraft carrier-style ship in southern China could signal a new shift toward Beijing’s proclaimed “military-civil fusion strategy that employs things like dual-use civil-military ships.” , said Shugart, the submarine’s former commander.

The ship “potentially provides a low-cost addition to the PLA Navy’s operational capabilities in a low-threat environment and to its logistical capabilities,” said Carl Schuster, former director of operations at the Joint Intelligence Center of the U.S. Army Command. Peaceful.

Given its lightweight construction, the ship could serve as a helicopter or drone carrier for China’s coast guard, which is increasingly deployed as a quasi-military force, Schuster said.

“Having an aerial platform would expand (the Coast Guard’s) surveillance capability in the remote waters of the southern South China Sea and potentially east of Taiwan,” Schuster added.

China launched large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in early October, flying record numbers of warplanes and other combat aircraft around the island. The day-long military exercises, the latest in a series of recent war games waged by Beijing against its neighbor, showed unprecedented involvement by coast guard vessels operating in areas around Taiwan and its islands. ring roads of Matsu and Dongyin, just off the coast of southeast China. side.

“The new flattop would be an important addition to any Coast Guard quarantine operation such as that potentially practiced two weeks ago and over the past two years,” Schuster said.

Beijing has become more assertive in its home region, using the military to assert its claims in the South China Sea and intimidate Taiwan – an autonomous democracy that the ruling Chinese Communist Party has pledged to take, by force if necessary.

But the new ship could also be very useful in a humanitarian capacity, providing rapid, cost-effective relief and evacuation in non-combat situations, Schuster said.

“It could also serve as a logistical support and repair ship during an amphibious operation once the beach is secure,” added the expert.

“It’s too fragile to enter a contested beach area, but they might consider it in desperate situations.”

First exercise with two carriers

In another demonstration of China’s growing naval power, Liaoning and Shandong completed their first-ever dual-carrier exercises in late October, according to the official Xinhua news service.

An aerial photo of the exercise showed the two carriers sailing side by side, with fighter jets overhead and at least 11 support ships from their carrier strike groups trailing behind.

Conducted in the South China Sea, the exercise “aimed to improve the integrated combat capability of aircraft carrier formations” and was “part of the regular open-sea real combat training of the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation “, Xinhua said.

Schuster, the former U.S. Navy captain, called the exercise “yet another indicator of the PLA Navy’s growing maritime capabilities.”

“Dual carrier operations add another level of complexity to a fleet’s operations,” he said, with the exercise allowing the fleet to test logistical requirements and coordinate communications between ships of the flotilla.

The state-run Global Times newspaper cited Chinese naval expert Song Zhongping as saying the exercise allowed the two carriers to “complement each other’s strengths and consolidate their advantages.”

“Liaoning and Shandong may have different numbers of aircraft carried, different escort ships and therefore distinct capabilities in air defense, anti-submarine warfare and anti-ship operations,” he said. Song said in the Global Times report.