Key Points and Summary – China is actively developing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Type 004, in its quest to build a true “blue water” navy capable of challenging the United States.
-Recent satellite imagery has revealed a land-based prototype of a naval nuclear reactor, confirming progress on this ambitious project.
-However, China faces immense technological and training hurdles, such as miniaturizing a powerful reactor for shipboard use and creating the rigorous training program required for nuclear-qualified sailors.
-While a Chinese nuclear carrier is not expected in the near term, it remains a high-priority goal for Beijing.
How Soon Will China Have a Nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier?
China’s shipbuilding prowess is unquestionable.
It seems like the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commissions a new ship each week. Aircraft carriers are a different story, though. These mammoth floating air bases are still not an area of expertise for the PLAN.
Still, there are green shoots in China’s fleet. The PLAN operates three carriers, with two deployed most of the time in the East and South China Seas.
The Chinese are improving carrier aviation operations, and their pilots are getting better at launching and landing. There are enough daily naval flight patrols and rehearsals for the PLAN to order a carrier strike group to steam into parts of the Indo-Pacific in a way it could not do before.
Keeping Up With the United States
The U.S. Navy has one especially big advantage over the PLAN: The Americans field multiple nuclear-powered super carriers. These carry the flag anytime, anywhere on the planet, and they contribute an unmitigated advantage in naval warfare.
Will China ever be able to produce its own nuclear-powered carrier? Absolutely, but not in the near term. The Chinese nuclear weapons program is chugging along. The country has about 600 nuclear warheads and wants to have 1,000 in its stockpile by 2030. China also has at least 58 civilian nuclear power plants spread throughout the country; twenty-seven new ones are under construction. Nuclear physicists and engineers are quite capable of producing a nuclear propulsion system for a carrier someday.
Nuclear Reactor for a Large Ship Is In Progress
There is some evidence that a Chinese nuclear-powered carrier is under development. Last November, satellite imagery revealed China has a nuclear powerplant prototype that is located in a mountain site outside the city of Leshan, in the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan.
The progress is not rapid, but it shows that the PLAN has “blue water” ambitions for its military. This would be a huge development for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s defense strategy.
A blue-water navy would stoke national pride, but more important, the PLAN could then send its carriers to locations the PLAN has not consistently operated before.
“The project at Leshan is dubbed the Longwei, or Dragon Might Project, and is also referred to as the Nuclear Power Development Project in documents,” according to the Associated Press.
More Evidence Is Emerging
Mandarin-speaking sleuths from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California examined publicly available records that showed China is progressing toward a nuclear powerplant big enough to propel a carrier through the high seas.
It appears that Chinese technicians are hard at work at the Nuclear Power Institute of China, a laboratory owned by the China National Nuclear Corporation. This could mean the PLAN will eventually have an operating nuclear propulsion system. It could take years, though, to see this through.
China’s first carrier, the Liaoning, was a rebuilt Soviet carrier, and the second, the Shandong, was based on that design. Both have ski-jump flight decks. The third, the Type 003 Fujian, was home-built from scratch and has an electromagnetic launch system.
Is a Nuclear-Powered Flattop a Bridge Too Far?
Developing a nuclear-powered carrier is a huge feat of engineering. The nuclear reactor on a carrier is much different from a power plant developed for commercial use. The nuclear power must come from a miniaturized reactor. Further, a nuclear reactor on a ship affects the weight and balance of the vessel. China has never shown it could conduct the difficult engineering operations needed to develop this system.
It Will Not Be Easy for China to Train Sailors
There are also training and logistical hurdles to overcome. The U.S. Navy sends its sailors and officers to an extremely rigorous and lengthy Nuclear Power School for engineers and technicians who serve aboard nuclear submarines and carriers. I consider this training to be one of the most difficult learning processes in the entire U.S. military.
The Chinese have the talent and smarts to be trained in this manner, but it will take perhaps another five years just to educate the first sailors on the ins and outs of nuclear-powered carriers. Plus, nuclear-powered carriers have different replenishment and logistical needs, since they can stay out at sea so long. The PLAN would need to procure the right type of escort ships for resupply.
This is all time-consuming and expensive, and the Chinese defense industrial base, while prolific, may not have the expertise to produce a nuclear-powered carrier by 2030. That doesn’t mean it will never have the capability, though.
The PLAN does have nuclear-powered submarines. But these are technologically a generation behind the Navy’s nuclear propulsion systems. They are too old and underpowered to be transitioned to carriers.
There is huge envy in China of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered carriers. National pride depends on the PLAN becoming more strategic and able to operate regularly outside the Indo-Pacific. Xi’s ambition is to make the PLAN the best fighting force in the world. And he is not one to give up easily.
What Happens Next?
Look for China to toil long and hard to develop the Type 004. It is a high priority for the PLAN. There may come a time when a Chinese carrier can circumnavigate the world and operate in America’s backyard.
This would boost the morale of all Chinese sailors.
About the Author: Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for US Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former US Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
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bobb
August 30, 2025 at 12:32 am
Building annuder aircraft carrier is the height of stupidity.
But What else do ya expect from xi jinping. The stupidista.
Instead the Navy should build an Ocean-going aircraft landing platform that can be parked off the west coast of africa. Or the west coast of europe.
The ship or platform should dispense with traditional gear like arrestor wires and lower level hangars.
Just a huge massively large vessel for landing almost all kinds of aircraft.
It will bring about a real revolution in advanced military aviation technology and other related fields !!!
taco
August 30, 2025 at 1:04 am
Building giant aircraft landing platforms is the way to go.
It will force or bring about formation of new technological concepts and introduction of very truly advanced military aviation know-how beyond What the obsolescent traditional carrier can provide.
Moreover, with a good fleet of aircraft landing platforms, a big nation can bring the global genghis to heel by just parking a few in the southern pacific or even the south atlantic.
Those vessels could be armed with RS-28-type missiles, each carrying between 10 to 20 warheads. Just one or two enough for each vessel.
MAN, the genghis gonna blow his top. Don’t worry. Just tella him about the need to study rev 18:12.
Hssta la vistaaa !