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Breakthrough to power most advanced jet launch system on China’s second home-grown aircraft carrier
South China Morning Post ^ | Wednesday, 01 November, 2017 | Minnie Chan

Posted on 11/02/2017 3:25:58 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki

A technological breakthrough in naval propulsion will enable China’s second home-grown aircraft carrier to use the world’s most advanced jet launch system without having to resort to nuclear power, overcoming a huge hurdle in the vessel’s development, military sources said.

The development of the integrated propulsion system (IPS) would allow the vessel to be more efficient, allowing more power for an electromagnetic catapult, rather than a less technologically advanced steam-driven catapult launch system, the sources said.

China’s first two carriers, the Liaoning and its sister ship, the Type 001A, are conventionally powered vessels equipped with Soviet-designed ski-jump launch systems.

But an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) on the Type 002, China’s second home-grown aircraft carrier, would mean less wear and tear on the planes and allow more aircraft to be launched in a shorter time than the ski and steam-catapult systems.

According to a source close to the People’s Liberation Army, China’s Central Military Commission was keen to use EMALS on the Type 002.

“[But] the obstacle … was whether a conventionally powered carrier would be able to support EMALS, and now that problem has been solved,” the person, who is close to the PLA’s equipment department, told the South China Morning Post.

The solution was provided by a team led by China’s top naval engineer Rear Admiral Ma Weiming, which developed a medium-voltage, direct-current transmission network to replace an earlier system based on alternating current.

A comparison of two China’s home-grown carriers As a result, the CMC, which is chaired by President Xi Jinping, has said the development of the Type 002, which had long been delayed, would get under way “soon”, the source said.

As a result, the CMC, which is chaired by President Xi Jinping, has said the development of the Type 002, which had long been delayed, would get under way “soon”, the source said.

Wang Ping, an expert in military technology at the Institute of Electrical Engineering under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, said the innovative design meant that high-energy consuming launch systems and weapons could now be used on a vessel driven by conventional power.

“It wasn’t just a simple switch from alternating to direct current, but a complete overhaul of the energy supply and distribution system – from steam boilers to the energy storage device,” he said.

Wang added that in the future, the same technology could be used to launch not just aircraft, but also missiles and satellites, and maybe even power high-speed trains.

A naval expert close to the carrier project confirmed that the CMC was now planning to proceed with the new power option.

“China doesn’t need to copy the United States and use nuclear reactors to support EMALS and other energy-hungry weapons on the ship, because it now has more advanced technologies to solve the problem,” the naval expert said.

The use of new power systems on the Type 002 is in line with the goals set out in Xi’s work report delivered at last month’s national Communist Party congress that China’s military should modernise by 2035 and become a top-ranked force by 2050.

“China now has mature technologies … [and] the PLA is narrowing the gap with the US,” the naval expert said.

He added that the US used an integrated propulsion system on its first USS Zumwalt-class destroyer, which was launched in 2013, but that it was not as advanced as the second-generation technology developed by Ma and his team.

In March, Ma, who is based at the PLA Naval University of Engineering in the central China city of Wuhan, told state broadcaster CCTV that the “ultimate aim” of his work on the IPS technology was to “solve the problem of deploying high-energy weapons” from ships.

He also said on the sidelines of the annual National People’s Congress in Beijing that China’s EMALS technology was more advanced and more reliable than the system used on the nuclear-powered USS Gerald Ford supercarrier.

The world’s largest and most expensive super warship – and the first to use both EMALS and advanced arresting gear – completed its maiden arrested landing and launch operation in late July, a week after its commission to the US Navy.

Additional reporting by Stephen Chen

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: New carrier to use ‘breakthrough’ launch system


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aerospace; aircraftcarrier; china; emals; plan

1 posted on 11/02/2017 3:25:58 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Super capacitor?


2 posted on 11/02/2017 3:31:40 AM PDT by Paladin2 (No spelchk nor wrong word auto substition on mobile dev. Please be intelligent and deal with it....)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Okay, our turn now to come up with something even more advanced. Under Prez Trump, all things are possible.


3 posted on 11/02/2017 3:32:14 AM PDT by flaglady47 (TRUMP 45. How sweet it is. )
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Just one little bitty EMP and all of the aircraft are just deck toys.


4 posted on 11/02/2017 3:32:34 AM PDT by mazda77
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To: flaglady47

They may be using the technology we developed for USS Ford CVN-78.


5 posted on 11/02/2017 3:36:03 AM PDT by Pecos (A Constitutional republic shouldnÂ’t need to hold its collective breath in fear of lawyers.)
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To: Paladin2

likely

this is a yawn - their gov’t flunkies are just as bombastic as ours


6 posted on 11/02/2017 3:47:14 AM PDT by vooch (America First Drain the Swamp)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Sure... if you don’t care about the launch & recovery rate. This is another test-bed ship. The ‘real’ carrier is having it’s components checked out on the first 2 or 3 vessels launched. Baby-steps. But this is the way you do it.


7 posted on 11/02/2017 4:04:01 AM PDT by Tallguy (Twitter short-circuits common sense. Please engage your brain before tweeting.)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

“A technological breakthrough in naval propulsion...”

Stolen American technology or more likely just handed over to them by the Obama administration.


8 posted on 11/02/2017 4:07:56 AM PDT by odawg
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To: Paladin2; Chode
Nope, a HUGE 9 Volt battery 😬
9 posted on 11/02/2017 4:23:49 AM PDT by mabarker1 (Progress- the opposite of congress)
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To: mazda77; mabarker1
heh heh heh heh...
10 posted on 11/02/2017 4:44:19 AM PDT by Chode (You have all of the resources you are going to have. Abandon your illusions and plan accordingly.)
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To: flaglady47

It is difficult to make. Our system is having problems. China should have used the old technology. This will flop imo.


11 posted on 11/02/2017 4:52:40 AM PDT by lavaroise
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To: Paladin2
No, a whole bunch of these:


12 posted on 11/02/2017 5:40:54 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Wow a super secret amazing new Tech breakthrough..!!

wow, I wonder where China got it...


13 posted on 11/02/2017 6:07:09 AM PDT by gaijin (Basically Obama lawyers would blatantly make up some totally groundless allegation against a fat cas)
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To: mazda77

“Just one little bitty EMP and all of the aircraft are just deck toys.”

You really got to get off the Internet rumor that EMP destroys all things electrical. It makes you sound retarded.


14 posted on 11/02/2017 8:03:56 AM PDT by CodeToad (CWII is coming. Arm Up! They Are!)
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To: CodeToad

Retarded is not knowing what one was implying. If they are controlling it digitally, which is the most likely because discrete switching takes up too much space . . . .


15 posted on 11/02/2017 9:07:54 AM PDT by mazda77
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To: mazda77

And, unless I misunderstand, an EMP is non-discriminatory. It will impact ALL electronics (unless hardened to withstand such).

Reduces the chances the Chinese (or anyone else) will actually use one in a fight, in my humble opinion. Why blind your opponent if you’re also going to be blind and dead in the water?


16 posted on 11/02/2017 11:42:07 AM PDT by ro_dreaming (Chesterton, 'Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It's been found hard and not tried')
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To: ro_dreaming

There are ways to protect from EMP. I won’t go into details but they have existed since we first detected them.


17 posted on 11/02/2017 11:45:40 AM PDT by mazda77
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Do you know how many squadrons of aircraft have been qualified to carry out flight operations?

5.56mm


18 posted on 11/02/2017 12:12:19 PM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: mazda77

Oh, I know there are ways to protect one’s electronics. But, if one side protects their electronics, and has the cables, and devices hardened and in protected space, and subsequently sets off an EMP, what happens is nothing. Because BOTH sides have set in protections. MAD, indeed.


19 posted on 11/02/2017 12:47:16 PM PDT by ro_dreaming (Chesterton, 'Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It's been found hard and not tried')
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