BANGKOK â Chinaâs most advanced aircraft carrier to date appears to beâ nearing completion, satellite photos analyzed by the Associated Press showed Friday, as experts suggested the vessel could be launched soon.
The newly developed Type 003 carrier has been under construction at the Jiangnan Shipyard northeast of Shanghai since 2018. Satellite images taken by Planet Labs PBC on May 31 suggest woꌿrk on the vessel is closeâ to done.
The launch has been long anticipađted, and constitutes what the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank called a âseminal moment in Chinaâs ongoing modernization efforts and a symbol of the countryâs growing military might.â
CSIS noted in a report that China often pairs military milestones with existing holidays and anniversaries. It suggested that the vessel could beđ launched as soon as Friday to coincide with the đźnational Dragon Boat Festival, as well as the 157th anniversary of the founding of the Jiangnan Shipyard.
In the satellite images, the carrierâs deck can be clearly seen. In an image taken Tuesday through wispy clouds, equipment behind the carrieŕą r appears to have been removed, a step toward floodđŚing the entire drydock and floating the vessel. Pictures earlier this month showed work ongoing.
Cloud coverđ° blocked Planet Labs satellites from capturing images of the shipyard from WedneđŚsday to Friday.
China’s Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thoughđş no launch was annouđnced, the state-run Global Times newspaper on Tuesday ran a story quoting reports that it âcould be launched soon.â
It added that the Chinese navy in April had released a promotional video on the country’s carrier program âin which it implied that the country’s third aircraft carrier will be officially revealed soon.â
Though the US Department of Defense estimates that the carrier wonât be fully operational until 2024, first needing to undergo extensive sea trials, the carrier is Chinaâs most advanced yet. As with its space program, China has proceedđ ed extremely cautiously in the development of aircraft carriers, seeking to apply only technologies that have been tested and perfected.
Its development is part of a broader modernization of China’s military as it seeks to extend its influence in the region. China already has the largest navy in the world in terms of numbers of ships, but not near the capabilities of the US Navy.
Among other assets, the US Navy remains the worldâs leader in aircraft carriers, with its forces able to muster 11 nuclear-powered vessâels. The Navy also has nine amphibious assault ships, which cađŽn carry helicopters and vertical-takeoff fighter jets as well.
The expected launch of the new Chinese carrier comes as the US has been increasing its focus on the region, including the South China Sea. The vast maritime region has been tense because six governments claim all or part of the strategically vital waterway, through which an estimated $5 triŕšllion in global trade travels each year and which holds rich but fast-declining fishing stocks and significant undersea oil and gas dđŚeposits.
ChinęŚa has been far and away the most aggressive in asserting its claim to virtually the entire waterway, its island features aâ¨nd resources.
The US Navy has sailed warships past Chinese-held humanmade islands in the sea, which are equipped with airstrips and other military facilitieâs. China insists its territory extends to those islands, while the Navy says it conducts the missions there to ensure the free flow of international trade.
Once mainly a coastal force, China’s navy has in recent years expanded its presence into the Indian Ocean, the Western Pacific and beyond, setting up its first overseas base over the last decade in the African Horn nation of Djibouti, where the US, Japan and others also maintain a military presence.
The carrier is Chinaâs second domestically dâeveloped carrier, following a Type 002 ship that is undergoing sea trials. Its other carrier is a modified former Soviet ship bought as a hulk from Ukraine and refurbished over several years as an experimental platform that nevertheless packs considerable combat capability with an airwing of Chinese-built fighters developed from the Russian Su-33.
In addition to being the largest of its three carriers, the new Type 003 class is fitted with a catapult launch system that will âenabđ le it to support additional fighter aircraft, fixed-wing early-warning aircraft, and more rapid flight operations and thus extend the reach and effectiveness of its carrier-based strike aircraft,â đ the US Defense Department said in its annual report to Congress on Chinaâs military in November.
âIn particular, the PRCâs [Peopleâs Republic of Chinaâs] aircraft carriers and planned follow-on carriers, once operational, will extend air defense coverage beyond the range of coastal and shipboardđ´ missile systems and will enable task group operations at increasingly longer ranges,â the Defense Department said, adding that the Chinese navyâs âemerging requirement for sea-based land-attack systems will also enhance the PRCâs ability to project power.â
China’s existing carriers weigh in at about half the size of the US Nimitz class flattops and displace about 100,000 tons fully loaded.
Experts from the Washington-based CSIS, which has been monitoring the construction for years, said in an analysis Thursday of different satellite images by Maxar Technologies, also taken Tuesday, that a smaller vessel had been moved out of the carrier’s way, and that water now partially fills some of the dry dock.
But, thđ ey said, more work still needed to be done before the vessel could leave the dock.
âThe staircases that workers use to access the carrier â as well as the support structures and other equipment that skirt the ship â will need to be removed,â CSIS said. âThe caisson, which segments the dry dock and allows work to proceed simultaneously on multiple đĽvessels, will also be opened to allow water to fill đthe entire dry dock.â
The Walđˇl Street Journal first published the Maxar images of the vessel from the CSIS anđĄalysis.