China’s First Home-Built Aircraft Carrier Could Start Sea Trials This Week

According to the South China Morning Post on April 23, China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier is expected to start sea trials soon amid what analysts say is a growing pressure to push forward its development. The Type 001A first generation aircraft carrier’s maiden sea trial could take place this week, possibly coinciding with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s 69th anniversary on Monday depending on weather and ocean conditions.

The Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration announced on Friday that three areas in the northeastern Bohai and Yellow sea will be cordoned off for military activities from April 20 to April 28. The restricted areas are closed to the shipyard in Liaoning province where the new carrier is being built. A main engine run was conducted indicating sea trials were about to start said a source who witnessed the engine test.

According to the South China Morning Post, the aircraft carrier is expected to enter service later this year, 12 months ahead of schedule, which one naval expert put down to a growing sense of urgency as rivalry between China and the United States intensifies.

The trial would test the ship’s basic functions, including power, damage control and radar and communication systems, as well as check for leakage. The aircraft carrier is not expected to sail on the test and may just stay within Bohai Bay.

Liu Zheng, the chairman of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, confirmed last month that the new aircraft carrier was ready to start the sea trials. The 70,000-tonne Type 001A first generation aircraft carrier was launched in April last year and is expected to join the navy as early as the end of this year, well before the original target of 2019.

The new warship is an upgrade from the Type-001A Liaoning, China’s only operational aircraft carrier, a retrofitted Soviet-era Admiral Kuznetsov-class multi-role vessel. A source close to the navy said it was far “too early to estimate” when the new ship would be combat-ready. It took nearly six years for the Liaoning to become a fully combat-ready battleship after it joined the navy in 2012, mainly because it lacked adequately trained crew members and commanders. The Liaoning is mainly used as a training vessel, but now the new Type 001A — which will be able to carry up to 35 aircraft and will weigh 70,000 tones when fully loaded — is expected to be combat ready.

“There is a growing external pressure for China to speed up the development of its aircraft carrier so that it is the main force of navy, especially since the U.S. has increased its deployment in Asia,” said Ni Lexiong, a naval expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.

It’s an event military analysts in Japan, all of South East Asia, India, the United States and Australia took notice of. It means that China will now have two armed and operational carriers capable of projecting firepower far beyond its borders.