The current paradigm of military power for most of the world’s great powers relies on a combination of land, sea and air defences. Air defense systems are especially valuable because they can detect incoming attacks from almost anywhere on Earth. But hypothetically, what if the attack comes from outside the Earth? China is exploring this scenario with the Luanniao, a concept aircraft carrier that patrols the waters of space.
The Chinese government is currently conceiving a new hybrid air and space defense system code-named “Nantianmen”. If implemented as planned, the system would enable China to not only monitor and attack targets from the air, but also in Earth orbit, well above the line of sight and range of ground-based air defense systems. The key to this system, however, is the Titanic Bird aircraft carrier, a spaceship that looks like something from Star Wars. Whether such a craft actually exists is debatable, but if Chinese state media are to be believed, the Luanniao could be put into service as early as 2040.
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Luanniao will launch drones from orbit
Rendering of Earth showing glowing blue horizon against starry sky. – Loops7/Getty Images
According to the concept released by Chinese state media, the Luanniao will be a huge spacecraft-aircraft hybrid aircraft carrier, weighing 120,000 tons (264,554,715 pounds) and measuring 242 x 684 meters (about 794 x 2,244 feet). For reference, it’s larger and heavier than the USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest aircraft carrier currently in service in the world and capable of sailing all the way to the Middle East in less than 10 days.
Luanniao’s mission is to cruise around the earth’s orbit, carrying a conceptual unmanned fighter squadron called “Xuannv”. After receiving orders from Earth, Luanniao will deploy Xuannv squadrons to attack targets in orbit and in the upper atmosphere, each stealth fighter equipped with hypersonic missiles. Because the Chaos and its fighter jets are in orbit, they will be protected from any attack by ground-based air defense systems; they will be out of range of any surface-to-air missile, even highly maneuverable missiles such as Japan’s new SSM.
Ranniao and the wider Nantianmen project are still in the conceptual stage. Aviation experts are skeptical that a 120,000-ton vehicle can be assembled, let alone deployed in space. It would likely cost more than the most expensive space mission to date and would be simply impossible to accomplish by current scientific standards. However, as German diplomat and space analyst Heinrich Kreft pointed out in a statement (via Deutsche Welle), “Many things that were science fiction 20 or 30 years ago are already a reality today.” He acknowledged that the project is not currently feasible in today’s environment, but given the trend of science and technology making huge leaps over the past few decades, China’s multi-decade time frame may be more reasonable than we think.
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