China’s Top Navy Scientist Designs Nuclear Aircraft Carrier With Railguns and Lasers

China’s top naval scientist, Ma Weiming, has designed a nuclear-powered warship with rail gun, laser and high-powered microwave weapons.

US aircraft carriers have been nuclear powered for many decades and the newest Ford supercarrier has electromagnetic launchers. What is new in the Weiming designs are the extensive integration of rail guns, lasers, and high-powered microwave weapons. Weiming also looks more extensively at designing around electrical power.

Here is part of multi-page Transactions of China Electrotechnical journal article.

The paper describes transforming China into a railgun, laser equiped nuclear navy and having dual use with commercial ships, new high speed rail and electromagnetic space launch.

There are two main subcategories of existing flywheel energy storage technologies. The first type is large-capacity medium-speed flywheel energy storage technology represented by traditional rolling and sliding bearings. Its main feature is that a single machine stores kinetic energy and releases large power. It is generally used for short-term high-power discharge and power peak-shaving occasions; the second type is This category is a high-speed flywheel energy storage technology represented by magnetic suspension bearings. Its main features are compact structure and higher long-term working efficiency.

The main key technologies involved are: motor/generator analysis and design technology adapted to flywheel energy storage, large inertia flywheel design analysis and manufacturing forming technology, flywheel energy storage rotor shafting support and dynamics analysis technology, and input between mechanical energy and electrical energy. Output conversion and control technology, flywheel body and motor integrated design technology.

The electromagnetic catapult system of the USS Ford aircraft carrier uses flywheel energy storage, which can provide 200 MJ of instantaneous energy in 2 seconds without affecting the aircraft carrier’s power system. The nuclear fusion test device of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute uses an inertial energy storage element with a capacity of 215 MV·A, which can provide a peak power of 160 MW within 30 s. In April 2022, the 10 MJ flywheel energy storage project of Qingdao Metro Line 3 participated by Hubei East Lake Laboratory was successfully connected to the grid and operated, using magnetic levitation flywheel technology with completely independent intellectual property rights.

The electromagnetic-launched projectiles could be automatically reloaded like an automatic rifle, allowing far greater speed and number of projectiles fired.

Railguns have been extensively researched by the US and China. The US had test firings but never put them railguns into operational systems. The US has placed combat lasers onto test ships. China has placed test railguns onto ships.

The main US problems have been making useful railguns is bringing down the cost and increasing the endurance of the barrels to withstand many shots.

The paper describes the China research on coilguns.

In order to explore the feasibility of the electromagnetic coil launcher in launching micro-satellites, the Naval Engineering University developed a principle prototype of a multi-stage electromagnetic coil launcher to achieve a launch target of 0.5 to 1kg and 200m/s within 1.2m.

China has all of the pieces for the ship under development. However, the pieces need further development before integration.

If China could develop a next generation nuclear energy reactor powered set of weapon systems it would be a gamechanger. This paper clearly shows that this is the goal of their work. This would transform their entire navy IF they succeeded at some point.

The super ship is equipped with new electromagnetic energy weapons such as electromagnetic railguns, electromagnetic coil guns, electromagnetic rocket launchers, laser weapons, and high-power microwaves, and is integrated with all-electric ship technology to intelligently and efficiently convert the energy of the ship platform into high-energy weapons. The required electromagnetic energy enables a single ship to simultaneously possess air defense, anti-submarine, anti-missile, and precise strike capabilities against sea and land, greatly improving the ship’s sustained combat capability and ensuring that a single all-purpose ship can carry out traditional ship formation operations. mission, which will completely subvert the maritime formation combat method for more than a hundred years.

The advancement of super ships is reflected in two aspects: first, the application of the integrated power system of nuclear energy ships, which can convert nuclear energy that cannot be used as weapons in conventional warfare into usable strike energy through electromagnetic energy; second, the shipboard high-energy The use of the weapon system can be used as a supplement to the capabilities of anti-ship missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, torpedoes and other weapons. It uses a combination of electromagnetic guns and laser weapons. Electromagnetic guns are used at long distances, and laser weapons and high-power microwaves are used at close range. The ammunition cost is low and Carrying capacity is greatly increased.

The equipped electromagnetic railgun has a long range, and the strike range can reach adjacent space; the electromagnetic launch missile can be automatically reloaded, and the continuous combat capability and range are greatly increased; the electromagnetic coil gun can launch various underwater weapons, greatly improving underwater attack and defense capabilities; laser weapons Transmitting energy at the speed of light, aiming and hitting; high-power microwave weapons have a large killing range and can effectively deal with “swarm” targets. It is equipped with air, surface and underwater unmanned information systems and integrates satellite networks to achieve large-scale battlefield perception and information sharing.