CHINA-PLA NAVY: CHINA ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION OF ITS THIRD AIRCRAFT CARRIER

China's military media on July 4 announced that construction of its third aircraft carrier Type-003 has now been almost completed and it is getting closer to the launch of outfitting! It said judging from the straight-lined take-off deck of the Type-003 aircraft carrier, it will not only adopt the catapult take-off method but may also directly mount the electromagnetic catapult system with a more flexible catapult method. It quoted the Russian satellite news agency as saying that China will test the carrier FC-31 stealth fighter for the first time in 2021, once again proving that the J-31 stealth fighter is indeed another
carrier-based fighter tailored for domestic aircraft carriers. It said that China will conduct the first flight test of the new J-31 (J-35) stealth carrier fighter in 2021, and will carry out the necessary flight tests including short-range landing and land catapult take-off training for its successful deployment aboard the Type-003 aircraft carrier in the future. Being developed by the Shen Fei Company since 2010, it said the second J-31 fighter has extremely high stealth capability, the flight speed of 2200 kilometres per hour and a
flight range of more than 1200 kilometres. It cited Chinese military experts as assessing that the PLAN's third aircraft carrier will adopt the conventional power propulsion mode of large gas turbines, with a full-load displacement of about 80,000 tons and use all-through flat decks and catapult take-off devices. It can carry catapult-type shipborne fighters and the shipborne early warning helicopters used by the first two aircraft carriers will likely be replaced by KJ-600 fixed-wing shipborne early warning aircraft. The Type-003 aircraft carrier will have the capacity for 70 aircraft, including at least 48 shipborne fighter aircraft, 4 fixed-wing early warning aircraft, 1-2 shipboard fuel tankers, several shipborne drones and multiple anti-submarine helicopters, so that the combat effectiveness of the Type-003 aircraft carrier has a qualitative leap compared to the Shandong and Liaoning ships! The Chinese military media reported that if these reports are correct, once the PLA Navy’s third aircraft carrier is in service, there will be 24 J-15 and 24 J-35 and other 48 highly effective carrier-based fighters on board. It claimed the Type-003 aircraft carrier will be among the most advanced in the world today with overall combat effectiveness close to the USN Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. 






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