Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard Group has started building China's second indigenous aircraft carrier last year, according to sources close to the People’s Liberation Army. The aircraft carrier will reportedly have a displacement of about 80,000 tonnes which 10,000 tonnes more than China's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning.
Liaoning was formerly Ukraine's unfinished Varyag which China bought in 1998. It was rebuilt and commissioned into service in 2012. The second aircraft carrier is an indigenous design based on the Liaoning. Construction started in November 2013, and the still unnamed Type 001A vessel was launched in Apr 2017. It is expected to be commissioned in late 2018 or early 2019.
The new vessel, designated as CV-18, will use an advanced catapult launch system that is more sophisticated than the Soviet-designed ski-jump systems used in its other two aircraft carriers.
SCMP
