Key Points and Summary – China has started building the nuclear-powered Type 004 supercarrier, with satellite imagery from Dalian indicating keel work underway.
-Projected at 110,000–120,000 tons, it would exceed the USS Gerald R. Ford in displacement and potentially embark 90+ aircraft with four or five EMALS catapults.
-The reactor lineage likely builds on Type 093/095 submarine programs validated at NPIC’s Base 909.
-Type 004 marks the next step in China’s carrier evolution from Liaoning and Shandong to the conventionally powered, CATOBAR-equipped Fujian.
-Modular construction suggests rapid assembly. If milestones hold, the PLAN could field the world’s largest warship this decade, reshaping Indo-Pacific deterrence dynamics.
China Building Type 004 Nuclear Super Aircraft Carrier, Maybe Larger Than Gerald R. Ford
WARSAW, POLAND – China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has officially begun the construction of yet another aircraft carrier design.
This one is designated the Type 004 and is also a “flattop,” as is the Type 003 CV-18 Fujian. However, this new vessel is designed to be a nuclear-powered “supercarrier” and is projected to displace over 110,000 tons—some estimates place its displacement at as much as 120,000 tons.
A carrier of this size, which would be a 10 percent or greater displacement than the USS Gerald R. Ford. If the ship is launched in the current intended configuration, it would be a historic moment in naval history—the PLAN operating a carrier that is larger than the most modern and outsized aircraft carrier in the US fleet.
The US Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford was commissioned in 2017 and is considered the most advanced aircraft carrier in the world.
The Ford displaces 100,000 long tons, as referenced above, and can carry approximately 75 aircraft. The Type 004 will surpass the Ford-class in overall tonnage and will be capable of accommodating 90 or more aircraft.
It is not known if the Type 004 will also have a greater number of catapults when compared to the Ford.
| Feature | Type 004 (Estimated) | USS Gerald R. Ford |
| Displacement | 110,000–120,000 tons | 100,000 tons |
| Propulsion | Nuclear | Nuclear |
| Length | ~320–330 meters | 333 meters |
| Aircraft Capacity | 90+ fixed-wing | 75 fixed-wing |
| Launch System | EMALS (4 catapults)* | EMALS (4 catapults) |
| Crew | ~5,000 (est.) | ~4,300 |
| Speed | 30+ knots | 30+ knots |
| Armament | CIWS, SAMs, EW | Phalanx CIWS, ESSM |
* – some expert analysis suggests there could be as many as 5 on the Chinese carrier
Recently released satellite imagery taken of the same Dalian shipyard where other carriers in the PLAN fleet were built shows that the fourth aircraft carrier—the Type 004—is well underway in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Upon completion, it is expected to be the largest warship ever built in Asia and, likely, the largest in the world.
Judging by the progress made thus far in the same satellite imagery, it appears that the Type 004 keel-laying ceremony may have occurred sometime in the past few months.
If so, this would mean that the work thus far on the design of the nuclear reactor for the carrier that was being developed at the Nuclear Power Institute of China’s (NPIC) Site No. 1 is proceeding according to plan.
The site is also designated as Base 909, in Muchengin, and reports from early 2025 indicated that a prototype reactor had been built on the land and subsequently tested. Satellite pictures have confirmed that NPIC’s Site No. 1 was the site for the reactor’s development and construction.
An Evolutionary Process
The Type 004 nuclear reactor-powered propulsion system is assessed to build heavily on the PLAN’s experience with the Type 093 and under-construction Type 095 nuclear-powered attack submarines.
The success of those programs has provided China’s naval shipbuilders with a sufficient baseline in reactor design, enabling them to move to the next level and develop a reactor powerful enough for a vessel of the Type 004’s dimensions and tonnage.
The PLAN’s development of its carrier has been a consistent and determined effort that epitomizes Beijing’s tendency to play the “long game”. This has meant building capabilities one step at a time but accelerating and shortening the intervals between technological advancements.
The process began with the acquisition of the CV 16 Liaoning (Type 001), which was initially commissioned in the Soviet Navy (VMF) as the Varyag. This ship was the second vessel of the Kuznetsov-class carrier.
The ship was built with a ski-ramp flight deck due to the Soviet designers’ and shipyards’ inability to develop a working catapult aircraft-launching system. Its construction had never been completed, and so it languished at the Nikolayev shipyards in Ukraine.
The ship was acquired from Ukraine by the PLAN, towed to the PRC, and after a roundabout journey, ended up at the Dalian shipyards.
It was finally commissioned in 2012 with the intention of serving as a training platform for carrier pilots and also as a testbed for the development of future carriers that would be completely Chinese-built.
The PLAN followed up on this design with its first domestically built aircraft carrier. This was a slightly enlarged copy of the Liaoning and was commissioned in 2019 as the Shandong Type 002. The increased size of the vessel was mostly due to an enlarged flight deck and expanded living quarters.
The Catapult Era Begins
The major accomplishment for the PLAN carrier fleet came in June 2022, when the force successfully launched the CV-18 Fujian Type 003. The vessel operates with normal, conventional propulsion, but with an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS).
This is a technology that the US Navy has spent considerable effort into developing, and it was unexpected that the PLAN would produce its own analogue so soon.
Fujian’s recent sea trials have demonstrated that the PLAN not only has some level of fluency with this technology but also that the PRC can conduct catapult-based flight operations.
This requires a very different set of skills and procedures compared to those undertaken from a ski-jump flight deck on the CV-16 and CV-17.
With the construction of the Type 004, the PLAN will operate a CVN-class vessel and become only the third nation to operate a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
This is a “club” that so far the United States and France have been exclusive members of.
Social media accounts in the PRC, such as Weibo, and the US platform X, have both published satellite images of heavy construction equipment and new carrier components at the Dalian shipyards. The conclusion announced is that the Type 004 hull assembly is moving ahead at full speed.
Looks like China started construction of its New Type 004 Aircraft Carrier. Type 004 appears larger than US Navy’s Ford-class.
Nuclear Powered
EMALS
90-100 aircrafts
Displacement around 110,000-120,000 tons pic.twitter.com/hi6yY2S4v2
— Varun Karthikeyan (@Varun55484761) September 30, 2025
The PLAN is now reportedly utilizing prefabricated sections—a sign that the PRC shipyards are refining the art of modular shipbuilding.
This is becoming a key factor in Beijing’s rapid expansion of naval power: the process of ship construction significantly shortens the timeline to launching a new ship compared to more conventional methods.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
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