CHINA has unveiled plans to build a Star Wars-style warship capable of deploying unmanned fighter jets and firing missiles from space.
State media released a concept video showing the Luanniao – which would be the world’s largest aircraft carrier – speeding through the Earth’s atmosphere and evading all current air defence systems.
China has unveiled the ‘Luanniao’ – its new ‘Star Wars’ style space carrierCredit: YouTube
A Youtube video render shows the terrifying spaceship firing rocketsCredit: YouTube
The Luanniao is capable of carrying 88 Xuan Nu fighter jetsCredit: YouTube
The terrifying machine will be a massive gray triangular behemoth measuring at nearly 800 feet long and over 2000 feet wide.
It is touted to have a take-off weight of 120,000 tons – dwarfing any other similar carrier in use today.
By weight alone, it would surpass the largest existing aircraft carrier in use – the USS Gerald R. Ford – by around 20%.
Beijing claimed the frightening new ship could hit skies in 20 to 30 years’ time.
But sceptics have branded it a stunt designed to “inspire the Chinese public”.
The Luanniao will reportedly carry 88 unmanned stealth Xuan Nu fighter jets primed to launch hypersonic missiles at enemy targets, according to state media.
And these fearsome jets will be significantly heavier than drones.
Defence expert Peter Layton told the Telegraph that, if completed, the spaceship would “outclass pretty much everyone”.
The Luanniao would have the power to dodge surface-to-air missile defence systems and enemy aircraft.
Layton added: “You’re also out of range of the weather, generally speaking – and you’re out of range of most defensive systems.”
It would enable the Chinese military to pick off enemy targets with ease; a terrifying proposition for the likes of Taiwan, and in future, the United States.
The project is part of Xi’s in the region and a chance for China to exert dominance over its neighbours.
German diplomat and space analyst Heinrich Kreft told DW : “To my ears, this sounds as if China has put something out into the world with Taiwan very much in mind, in order to leave a marker.”
He points to previous Chinese “superweapon” announcements – such as an ultimate submarine-hunting weapon – that Western scientists have regularly branded unrealistic.
Xi Jinping has stepped up China’s military and political pressure on TaiwanCredit: Getty
China shared a video of a warship firing a weapon during drills east of Taiwan last monthCredit: Reuters
Taipei has responded with military exercises of its ownCredit: AFP
Layton told the Telegraph : “For the external audience, it does paint the picture that they are working on technology that the region just can’t aspire to – it’s literally Star Wars stuff.”
Building the Luanniao is seen as an essential part of China’s Nantianmen Project – translating to South Heavenly Gate – which includes a number of ambitious plans to bolster the nation’s air and space capabilities.
Its announcement is the latest challenge to the United States in the battle for space supremacy.
In 2024, China’s Chang’e-6 robotic spacecraft successfully returned lunar samples to Earth from the dark side of the Moon.
The Chang’e-7 mission, which aims to find water on the Moon’s surface, is touted for August.
The Luanniao was originally conceived a decade ago, but was – and still is – dismissed as fanciful by most experts.
The technology required to build such a daunting spaceship, capable of attacking countries from the Earth’s atmosphere, does not currently exist.
It would require a revolutionary propulsion system, an exorbitant amount of fuel and reusable rockets – which China has not so far been able to build.
In that regard at least, Beijing is 10 to 15 years behind Elon Musk and his SpaceX reusable rockets.
Kreft told DW that the Luanniao is a “completely unrealistic” project, but warned “many things that were science fiction 20 or 30 years ago are real today.”
China, he warns, is working “on all conceivable future projects and weapons systems” such as a field of lasers, where the country “appears to be further ahead than anyone else”.
Beijing’s latest CGI show of space force is seen as another intimidation tacticCredit: YouTube
China are seen to be edging towards the US in an intense battle for space dominanceCredit: YouTube Beijing lays down the gaunlet in the China-US space race
by Joe Mannion
The Luannaio is the latest development in a tightly-contested space race between Beijing and Washington.
The US currently holds the advantage, specifically through its private sector innovation and mature technologies, but China is rapidly closing the gap with state-funded programs.
China edged ahead in its lunar research after its Chang’e-6 mission successfully retrieved samples from the far side of the Moon.
Its upcoming Chang’e-7 will look to find water on the surface for the first time.
Both nations are racing to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030.
The US (Artemis) and China (ILRS) are planning to build separate lunar bases.
Discovering and controlling water resources will be essential for sustaining these future bases.
The US has the SpaceX reusable Falcon 9 rocket, meanwhile, giving Washington a significant advantage in low Earth orbit.
Beijing is aggressively investing to develop its own reusable rocket.
Both countries see space as a crucial domain for warfare in the future.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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