- Breathless reports point to a conceptual Chinese flying aircraft carrier, operating in the Earth’s stratosphere
- Propelling such a platform into flight would require propulsion technology far beyond what currently exists
- Alternative space-based strike systems are within the technological capability of China, offering advantages over any strato-carrier concept
The pace of China’s military development in recent years has made it into a leading defence power, as Beijing seeks to bridge the West’s qualitative gap. However, the release of details regarding a stratospheric ‘space’ aircraft carrier has captured the West’s attention.
Breathlessly portrayed by international media as a ‘Star Wars’ concept of a flying aircraft carrier that operates high in the stratosphere, the prospect of an ‘Avengers-style’ airborne fortress being made into reality has caught the news cycle.
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In recent weeks, Chinese state media has been releasing snippets of what project ‘Nantianmen’ would offer, centred on the development of the ‘Luanniao’ airborne aircraft carrier, described as being 242m in length, 684m wide, with a maximum take-off weight of 120,000 tonnes.
The Luanniao would feature advanced new Chinese fighters, judging concept images something in the region of seventh-generation platform, far beyond the fifth-generation types in service and the conceptual sixth currently under development.
Put into perspective, the width of China’s strato-carrier concept is twice the length of the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, with, inversely, the width of the Ford being one-third the length of the Luanniao. The flying carrier is also heavier, if one takes the inexact science of comparing tonnage with displacement.
Practically, the technology does not exist to send aloft a platform of that weight, which would require a thrust-to-weight ratio of around 35,000 tonnes-force (~340 meganewtons (mN)). Putting this into perspective, the advanced Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan engine used on the F-35 fighter produces around 191 kilonewtons (kN) of thrust.
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By GlobalDataA Chinese strato-carrier of the size described in the media would need in excess of 1,700 F135 turbfan engines to provide the necessary thrust to take-off and sustain flight.
The heaviest aircraft ever built, the Antonov An-225 Mriya, destroyed by Russian forces fighting over Ukraine’s Hostomel Airport in 2022, had a maximum take-off weight of around 640 tonnes. Each of its six D-18T trubofan engines produced around 229 kilonewtons.
Using the An-225 metrics, China’s strato-carrier would need over 1,000 D-18T engines to order to fly.
Clearly, these numbers are fanciful in the extreme. Such propulsion would be space technology, with SpaceX’s Starship Super Heavy Booster able to generate 74 mN of thrust, resulting in the Luanniao needing between four and five of such engines.
Thrust generated to the level of SpaceX’s Starship boosters are only possible for a couple of minutes, with sustained flight within the stratosphere requiring fuel densities that are the stuff of science fiction.
Is it all just science fiction?
Yes and no. According to informed analysis, while the principle of placing some form of weapon into orbit to provide access to terrestrial targets has precedent, it is difficult to say whether a concept such as China’s strato-carrier would be practical or indeed useful in the 30-year timeframe envisaged.
Historically, corporations and design bureaus often have an archive of far out designs, and of those, many see development progress can be rendered obsolete by new trends before they are finished. For China’s Luanniao, a significant amount of artistic liberty has been employed, likely with a view towards domestic consumption.
However, China is doubtless looking at ways to steal a march on the United States, and with its space-based capabilities expanding and the prospect of a militarised Earth Orbit and Cis-Lunar space, Beijing will seek to establish stratospheric platforms that are able to project influence.
The most obvious choice would be a space-based missile strike system or constellation, offering power projection options without the limitations of science fiction strato-carrier only being able to be in once place and any one time.
