Tracking China’s Fourth Aircraft Carrier

By: Matthew P. Funaiole, Brian Hart, Aidan Powers-Riggs, and Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.
Published: May 21, 2026

At the Dalian Shipyard in northern China, construction is underway on China’s fourth aircraft carrier. Speculation about the vessel, known as the Type 004, is widespread, but many details pertaining to its size, propulsion, and capabilities remain unclear.

This page leverages commercial satellite imagery and other open-source information to separate fact from fiction about the carrier’s development. The content will be updated as new information becomes available.

A globe showing the location of Dalian shipyard.

The pace of the fourth carrier’s construction is impressive. In less than a year, prefabricated hull components that first appeared in a Dalian dry dock in early 2025 have been assembled into a clearly recognizable hull—highlighting the speed and scale of China’s maritime industrial base.

Even at this rapid pace, it will be several years before the carrier completes construction. After it is launched from the dry dock, the vessel will still require extensive fitting out and sea trials before entering service. When the carrier is finally commissioned into the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), it will mark an important milestone in China’s military modernization.

What We Know:
Fact vs. Fiction

Rumors have long surrounded China’s aircraft carriers during construction. The list below examines the most prominent claims about the fourth carrier and evaluates them against the available evidence.

Explore satellite imagery and in-depth analysis in the tabs below:

1. This is an aircraft carrier. ◉ Nearly Certain

CSIS assesses with near certainty that the vessel under construction is an aircraft carrier. There is now overwhelming evidence to support that assessment:

Size and Configuration: As of May 2026, the vessel’s hull measures approximately 286 meters in length from the unfinished bow to stern, and it has a beam (or width) of approximately 46 meters. This is far larger than any other class of surface combatant in China’s navy.

The vessel’s hull configuration makes clear that it is not a civilian commercial ship. It does not match the configuration of other vessels of comparable sizes produced at Chinese shipyards, such as super-sized containerships, cargo ships, or tankers. Additionally, the hull’s shape and configuration closely match those of other Chinese aircraft carriers at roughly similar stages of construction.

Location: The specific graving dock where this vessel is being built is the same site where China refitted its first carrier, the Liaoning, and the site where China’s second carrier, the Shandong, was assembled.

2. The carrier will be nuclear-powered. ◎ Likely

Perhaps the most closely watched question about the Type 004 is whether it will be nuclear-powered, a critical technical leap that would enable longer duration operations farther from China’s shores. At this stage, it is too early to assess with certainty either way, but considerable evidence suggests that the carrier will likely be nuclear-powered.

Satellite imagery from May 4, 2026, shows two 15-meter by 15-meter compartments in the vessel’s hull that bear the hallmarks of shielded nuclear reactor containment systems. These are needed to protect the crew and surrounding equipment from radiation generated by nuclear reactors. In contrast, China’s Fujian carrier, which is conventionally powered, did not feature similar openings at a comparable stage of construction.

Rumors of a Chinese nuclear-powered carrier have circulated for years, but Chinese authorities have never publicly acknowledged such a program. PLAN officials have confirmed that China’s fourth carrier program is underway, but have declined to comment on its propulsion when asked.

Aside from the containment structures visible in satellite imagery, other publicly available information signals China’s pursuit of nuclear-powered carriers. In late 2024, an investigation relying on satellite imagery and Chinese government procurement documents indicated that China had built a land-based prototype naval reactor at a research facility in Sichuan. The project was linked to China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation’s 701st Research Institute, the entity responsible for designing China’s aircraft carriers, and included documents describing equipment intended for installation on a “large surface warship.”

Nuclear propulsion offers several major advantages over conventional propulsion. It obviates the need to refuel the ship, reducing logistical constraints. It also enables faster sailing without draining fuel supplies and provides a more powerful supply of energy for onboard systems, such as the electromagnetic catapults that launch aircraft. It also frees up internal space to carry more aircraft, munitions, fuel, and provisions for the crew.

The United States has operated nuclear-powered carriers for over six decades, and all 11 current U.S. carriers are nuclear-powered. France’s Charles de Gaulle is the only nuclear-powered carrier currently operating outside of the U.S. Navy. The addition of a nuclear-powered carrier to China’s fleet would mark a step-change in PLAN capabilities and place China in an elite group of military powers.

3. This aircraft carrier is larger than China’s previous three. ◉ Very Likely

Based on observable evidence, the vessel is already shaping up to be larger than China’s third and largest aircraft carrier, the Fujian. The Type 004’s beam currently measures approximately 46 meters, compared to 40 meters for the Fujian at a roughly similar stage of construction. Until the new carrier’s bow is fully assembled, its full waterline length cannot be assessed, but it will likely be longer than the Fujian’s, which is approximately 303 meters.

The new carrier will become much larger as construction proceeds. The vessel’s flight deck will extend several meters beyond the length and width of the hull, closer to the waterline, and will likely reach beyond the length of the Fujian, which measures 316 meters.

While the final dimensions of the Type 004 are still unknown, it could approach or even conceivably exceed the size of the U.S. Gerald R. Ford–class supercarriers, which stretch 337 meters. As the vessel’s flight deck takes shape in the coming months, it will be possible to obtain a more exact estimate of the overall size.

The Type 004’s size will give it advantages over its predecessors. A larger internal hangar would enable the ship to carry a bigger airwing, and a more expansive flight deck would offer greater capacity and flexibility for air operations.

However, a larger ship will come with greater fueling needs—not just for propulsion but also to power more onboard systems. The 004’s larger size thus adds further weight to the argument that the carrier will be nuclear-powered since nuclear power can generate more energy output and alleviate some logistical challenges.

4. The vessel will have four aircraft launch catapults. ◎ Plausible

One of the most consequential features of the carrier will be its aircraft launch system. China’s most modern active carrier, the Fujian, is outfitted with three catapults for launching aircraft (two on the bow and one on the port side “waist”). Notably, the Fujian leapfrogged older steam-powered catapult systems and instead was outfitted with a more advanced electromagnetic system like the one pioneered for the U.S. Ford-class carriers.

China’s fourth carrier will undoubtedly have electromagnetic-powered catapults, but it remains to be seen whether it will have three (similar to the Fujian) or four (similar to the U.S. Ford-class).

The presence of a large, exposed object near the carrier’s construction site since early 2024 has fueled speculation that the carrier will have a fourth catapult. Imagery from February 2025 shows the object in question, purportedly a modular component of a carrier flight deck.

The component features what could be two converging catapult trenches, which would suggest the port side of the carrier’s deck would have two catapults (in addition to the two catapults toward the bow). However, it remains unclear whether the component is in fact intended to be installed on the Type 004, or if it is just a test or demonstrator module meant to experiment with different designs.

The addition of a fourth catapult would mark a notable upgrade because it would enable a faster tempo of aircraft launches, bringing it closer to the launch capacity of U.S. carriers. Once construction proceeds to assembling the vessel’s flight deck, it will quickly become evident whether there will be three or four catapults.

5. The carrier will have a third aircraft elevator. ◎ Plausible

Questions remain about whether the carrier will have additional elevators for moving aircraft between lower-level hangars, where aircraft are stored, and the flight deck, where they take off. These elevators are pivotal to the functioning of aircraft carriers, and more doors can speed up the process of moving aircraft throughout the ship.

The Fujian and its predecessors have just two aircraft elevators, both on the starboard side. It is not yet discernible from satellite imagery how many elevators the Type 004 will have.

If the vessel has a larger flight deck with an improved design, it could feature a third aircraft elevator—most likely on the rear port side. This would be similar to the aircraft elevator configuration seen on the U.S. Ford-class. If laid out well, a third elevator would speed up the ship’s ability to move aircraft to and from the flight deck, improving operational capability.

Implications

China’s fourth aircraft carrier is the latest step in the PLAN’s rapid modernization drive and underscores Beijing’s continued push toward a larger, more capable blue-water fleet. The 2025 U.S. Department of Defense report on China’s military power assessed for the first time that China aims to field six additional aircraft carriers by 2035, bringing its total to nine.

Fielding six new carriers by 2035 would require China to shift toward producing at least two carriers simultaneously in the coming years, especially if new capabilities are added. In addition to Dalian Shipyard, where the fourth carrier is being built, China’s Jiangnan Shipyard is the most likely second site for constructing additional carriers. The sprawling shipyard was responsible for constructing the Fujian, demonstrating its ability to construct aircraft carriers.

While aircraft carriers are the centerpiece of a blue-water navy, they do not operate in isolation. They are escorted by other vessels, typically including some combination of cruisers, destroyers, frigates, large replenishment ships, and sometimes nuclear-powered attack submarines. If the PLAN intends to field a much larger fleet of carriers, it will also need to continue producing these other vessels to support them.

If China does build out such an extensive carrier fleet, it would represent a sea change in the global balance of military power. Doing so would allow it to not only close the quantitative gap with the U.S. Navy’s eleven-carrier fleet, but also the qualitative gap if many of its new carriers feature advanced capabilities like nuclear propulsion. More broadly, a larger fleet of aircraft carriers would offer China transformative capabilities to project naval and air power farther into the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

This report was made possible by general support to CSIS. No direct sponsorship contributed to this report.

This report was produced by the Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab.

Written by Matthew P. Funaiole, Brian Hart, Aidan Powers-Riggs, and Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.

Satellite Imagery Analysis support by: Jennifer Jun

Production by: Michael Kohler

Development by: José Romero

Design support by: William Taylor

Copyediting support by: Madison Bruno

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