Does China Have A Catamaran Type Aircraft Carrier?

China has unveiled a drone carrier mothership, a new type of warship that could change the military balance in a conflict over Taiwan. The country has recently put into service a catamaran drone mini-carrier as part of an experimental naval training force. This month, Naval News reported that China has built the world’s first dedicated drone carrier at Jiangsu Dayang Marine shipyard on the Yangtze River. The design is smaller than regular aircraft carriers and slightly shorter but wider than World War II.

China has quietly launched a revolutionary new type of aircraft carrier, hidden away in a shipyard on the Yangtze River. The Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, exercises in the Yellow Sea underlines China’s growing experience and confidence in carrier operations. The Shandong passed through the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan en route to China’s largest-ever training exercises involving an aircraft carrier.

China has started building their fourth carrier, the Type 004, which is expected to be equal to a Nimitz class, be nuclear powered, and have EMALS. The vessel is smaller than traditional carriers and employs a catamaran hull with a straight deck, limiting simultaneous launch and recovery of aircraft.

The PLAN is serious looking at this design and hopes to begin construction in late 2013. The new drone carrier has a very different exterior and is built to change the military balance in a conflict over Taiwan. The Liaoning is a Chinese Type 001 aircraft carrier, the first aircraft carrier commissioned into the People’s Liberation Army Navy Surface Force.