China's Second Aircraft Carrier is Ready for Sea Trials

China's first domestically built carrier, known as the Type 001A, is undergoing preparations for its first sea trial, while discussions about its name show that Chinese people hold high expectations of the carrier's ability to resolve the Taiwan question.

According to the latest online photos from the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC) construction site in Liaoning Province, where the carrier was launched and outfitted, the scaffolds on the carrier have been completely removed, and a phased array radar has been installed.

"All the equipment and devices on the carrier are in the joint debugging stage, and the main engine has been powered. In 2018, we will present a surprise to the Chinese people," DSIC Chairman Liu Zheng said, according to a report on cctv.com, the official website of China Central Television, on March 13.

Liu, who is also the general director of construction of the Type 001A and a member of the National People's Congress (NPC), made the comments to cctv.com when he was attending the Two Sessions.

"This all proves that the Type 001A is getting ready for its first sea trial, and the exact timing will depend on factors like the weather and sea conditions. April 23 is Navy Day, the founding day of the PLA Navy [April 23 1949], so this might also be taken into consideration," Li Jie, a Beijing-based naval expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"After the sea trial, which normally takes about 6-12 months, it will be ready for delivery to the PLA Navy, so it's very likely we will see the carrier enlisted by the end of 2018," said Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator.

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The Type 001A was launched in Dalian on April 26 2017, three days after Navy Day, and the outfitting work only took about one year.

The speed with which the Type 001A was built was the fastest in the history of aircraft carrier construction, as it only took two years from the laying of the foundation in the shipyard to its launch, and more importantly, everything from the ship's body to its devices is domestically built, Liu said.

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That is rather fast for a carrier. The US currently does 5 years, but with the block buy will reduce the time to 3 1/2 years for each carrier. The JFK and the Enterprise are the next carriers for the USN.

It will be interesting to see if the Chinese lay down a new carrier at the Dalian shipyard and which design it will be (if any). It might be the same design as the third aircraft carrier being built in the Shanghai shipyards (called the CV02 (*)) or it might be another of the so-called CV01A class.

It is rather interesting what the names have been suggested: either to name it for Taiwan or the admiral that conquered Taiwan. However, prior to this the name Shandong had been used in conjunction with the latest carrier from Dalian.


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a reply to: anzha

Lets be real, when the article states, "Chinese people hold high expectations of the carrier's ability to resolve the Taiwan question."

You can be assured of it's name, it'll be the Admiral that conquered Taiwan.

a reply to: Arnie123

Chinese law currently states they can only be named for places, not people. I am sure if Xi wanted to, he could change it, but as of this moment, naming it for Taiwan is more likely. Or the home province of the conqueror of Taiwan.