Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

A 60,000-ton aircraft carrier!

Everyone was stunned. You guys really dare to think big. In the past, there were also aircraft carrier plans, but they were only around 20,000 to 30,000 tons. The largest was a 40,000-ton medium-sized aircraft carrier. Now, you're directly jumping to 60,000 tons!

"For us, aviation technology is lagging behind. Currently, only the J-11 is reasonably useful and is the most suitable carrier-based aircraft for us. Our aircraft carrier must be designed around this carrier-based aircraft."

Old Liu had already memorized all the data and didn't need his subordinates to introduce it; he could directly explain it to everyone.

"Since we don't have catapult technology, we can only use the ski-jump deck method. After our tests at the Wasteland Village base, medium-load takeoffs require a 105-meter runway, and heavy-load takeoffs require a 195-meter runway. To avoid interference with takeoffs and landings, the two medium-load takeoff points on our bow cannot encroach on the landing area. Thus, the bow needs more than 100 meters of space."

"As for the angled deck, our J-11 fighters need more than 200 meters of length to complete a go-around after a failed landing."

The angled deck is divided into three parts. The area from the stern to the first arresting cable is the landing area, which requires about 50 meters. The area in front of the landing area is the arresting area. Each arresting cable is 13 meters apart, so four arresting cables require 39 meters of space. This totals 80 meters. However, if the arresting hook fails to catch the cable, the fighter must accelerate to full power for a go-around. If there isn't enough space in front, the go-around will fail. Therefore, an angled deck length of 200 meters is necessary.

"Okay, a 100-meter bow deck and a 200-meter angled deck. Does that mean the total length of our aircraft carrier will be 300 meters?" a leader asked. "Wouldn't that be the same as the American Kitty Hawk class?"

The Kitty Hawk class is also about 300 meters. Ours is also about 300 meters. You really dare to think big!

"That's right. However, our width won't be as large as the Kitty Hawk class, so our displacement won't be as large either. Designing the overall displacement to be around 60,000 tons should be sufficient. Of course, it would be even better if we could build it larger."

"You guys really dare to think. How much money would it cost to build such a large aircraft carrier? Can't our navy take it slow? For example, by building a 20,000-ton one to test first?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"The British Invincible class is 20,000 tons and can only operate vertical takeoff and landing fighters. Even if the aviation system could develop such fighters... we still wouldn't want them. They're just a burden."

Vertical takeoff and landing fighters became a trend for a while. They don't need airports and can be deployed in a dispersed manner, allowing them to survive a nuclear war. For a time, they had a large market. However, the technical research and development difficulty was very high. In the end, only two countries developed them.

The British developed the Harrier, which uses one engine placed on its belly, with four nozzles rotating downwards to complete vertical takeoff, and rotating backwards for horizontal flight. It sounds good, but it doesn't have supersonic flight capability. During vertical takeoff, it can only carry air-to-air missiles, and its combat radius is only 100-200 kilometers, making it impractical.

The Soviets developed the Yak-38, with the main engine at the rear and a lift engine in the front, only used during takeoff. However, the nozzle faces the ground, and the problem of burning the deck couldn't be solved. The Soviets planned to deploy it on the Kiev-class heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers, but later they were all left ashore because the deck was damaged and couldn't be repaired.

Neither of the two was qualified. It wasn't until the F-35B that vertical takeoff and landing fighters became mature. But that requires black technology. An engine with a thrust-to-weight ratio exceeding 10 is science fiction in this era. The imported Spey engine only has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 5, which is already the most advanced in the country.

"What about a 40,000-ton one?"

"A 40,000-ton one won't work either. The deck area is too small, the takeoff and landing areas overlap, and the number of carrier-based aircraft that can be operated simultaneously is too small."

It's because of the limitations of carrier-based aircraft. If there were medium-sized fighters, a 40,000-ton aircraft carrier could be considered. In later generations, there were quite a few 40,000-ton aircraft carriers, such as the French Charles de Gaulle and the ones India purchased and manufactured themselves. However, they all operate medium-sized aircraft, while heavy aircraft are only suitable for large aircraft carriers.

Can it be changed? Of course not. Developing a medium-sized aircraft ourselves would take a long time. Land-based fighters can be developed because the demand is high. Carrier-based aircraft are only needed in quantities of a few dozen. Is it worth developing a completely new one?

The old leader looked at Qin Yang: "President Qin, what do you think?"

"I believe that the trend is towards larger aircraft carriers," Qin Yang said. "After the Falklands War, the British also realized that their Invincible class was a burden. The French's new generation is only 40,000 tons, which is limited by their dock. We can look at the Soviet Union's heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers, each one larger than the last. As for the Americans, who have the most experience operating aircraft carriers globally, they keep saying that supercarriers are useless while building them bigger and bigger."

The British Navy never favored the Invincible class from the beginning, but there was no choice. After all, every leader who came to power was committed to destroying their country's navy. The Invincible class was still developed under the guise of anti-submarine warfare, which is somewhat similar to the Soviets. The leaders also didn't like aircraft carriers and thought missiles were enough. The Moskva class and Kiev class were all pretexts for anti-submarine warfare. There is a group of people in the country who just don't like aircraft carriers and get angry at the mere mention of them.

Speaking of this, the Americans are quite good at deceiving people, constantly deceiving the countries around them, saying that supercarriers are useless and are just sea targets, etc., while building bigger and bigger ones themselves.

This sentence was also directed at certain people in the room. It has already been decided to build an aircraft carrier. The next step is to decide what kind of aircraft carrier to build. Don't treat the Americans' words as gospel; they're just deceiving people.

The French aren't deceived, but they have no other choice. The Brest Naval Base shipyard, which specializes in building aircraft carriers, has such a small dock. The Charles de Gaulle of later generations was hampered by this dock and couldn't be built larger, so they had to think of other ways.

"If we want to develop a strong navy, we must have large aircraft carriers. The larger the deck, the more carrier-based aircraft it can accommodate, the higher the sortie efficiency, and the more flexible the combat," Qin Yang introduced. "Now we are mainly using the J-11. In the future, there will also be fixed-wing early warning aircraft and fixed-wing anti-submarine aircraft. Our navy may even completely abandon land-based operations and fully shift to the sea. The 60,000 tons is just a beginning. In the future, we will inevitably need 80,000-ton or even 100,000-ton supercarriers."

"President Qin is right!" Old Liu's face was filled with excitement.

Let those aircraft carrier naysayers go to hell! If we want to develop a strong navy, we must have supercarriers!