Type 003 aircraft carrier

Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo of the People's Liberation Army Navy said in 2013 that China's next aircraft carrier would be equipped with an electromagnetic aircraft launch system.[5] Multiple prototypes were spotted by media in 2012, and aircraft capable of electromagnetic launching were tested in Chinese Navy research facilities.[6]

Construction of the carrier began in the mid-2010s, although the precise date is unknown. The National Interest reported that construction began in March 2015,[7] while The Diplomat said that "initial work" had begun in February 2016, followed by a notice to proceed given to the Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard Group in March 2017.[8]

The construction of Type 003 aircraft carrier was reportedly delayed in June 2017 while the Navy tested electromagnetic and steam-powered catapult systems.[9] By November 2017, the Navy had reportedly developed a new means of powering electromagnetic catapults with conventional power sources instead of nuclear reactors, and further work on the Type 003 was due to begin imminently.[10][11][12] The design breakthrough is led by Rear Admiral Ma Weiming.

The ship is expected to be launched in 2020 and enter active service in 2023.[8] It is estimated to have an aircraft capacity of about 40 fighter aircraft, several propeller-powered transport and airborne early warning and control aircraft all operated by pilots of the People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force.[13]

On 7 May 2019, the Center for Strategic and International Studies identified overhead imagery of the hull under construction in satellite photographs. The images showed a bow section that appeared to end with a flat 30-metre (98-foot) front and a separate hull section 41 metres wide, suggesting that the vessel will be larger than the unbuilt 85,000-ton Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk but smaller than the 100,000-ton supercarriers of the United States Navy.[14][15] Its displacement and capabilities have also been suggested to be comparable to that of the American Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier of the early 1960s.[16]

The block modules were moved from its fabrication facility to the staging area in May 2020, then into the drydock in July. By early September that year, almost all of the blocks of the ship were in the drydock, with only the foremost part of the ship's bow missing. Using satellite and aerial photograph, its cumulative hull length was estimated at approximately 300 metres, nearly as long as the 305-metre Liaoning and Shandong, with a beam of about 40 metres at its widest point. Initial projections suggested a displacement of 85,000 tons, however these dimensions suggested that the displacement would be even larger.[17]

• Chinese aircraft carrier programme