Zitat:China Wants Nine Aircraft Carriers by 2035, Says New Pentagon Report [...]

The U.S. report says that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will embark on the largest carrier build-up effort in the Indo-Pacific since World War II.

“The PLAN aims to produce six aircraft carriers by 2035 for a total of nine,” reads the report. China currently operates three carriers — second only to the U.S. This expansion would triple Beijing’s ability to deploy carrier strike groups within the next decade. [...]

The commissioning of Fujian was one of the most important Chinese military developments in 2025, according to the report. Equipped with an electromagnetic catapult, the 80,000-ton super carrier is the largest built to date outside of the U.S. Fujian’s carrier air wing is also set to bolster the PLAN naval aviation capabilities through its J-35 fifth-generation fighters and KJ-600 airborne early warning and command aircraft. Its catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery marks a shift away from the ski-jump designs of Liaoning (16) and Shandong (17), enabling the service’s carrier-based fighters to operate with larger payloads of fuel and munitions at longer distances. [...]

Work on China’s next aircraft carrier, the Type 004, began this year. In 2024, the Associated Press reported the country’s work on a prototype reactor for naval applications and Beijing’s intent to produce nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.