BEIJING- China has aggressively pushed the construction of its first-everhomemade aircraft carrier – codenamed Type 001A. The massive ship isreportedly ready for sea trials and may be inducted in the PLA Navy by theend of this year.
According to state-owned Global Times, the aircraft carrier – being builtat the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC) is currently beingprepared for sea trials which last anywhere between six and 12 months.
Other local reports in China have quoted DSIC Chairman Liu Zheng as sayingthat the equipment and devices on board the ship are in the joint debuggingstage and that the ‘main engine has been powered.’ These developmentsfurther confirm that a sea trial is round the corner – making the Type 001Aone of the fastest aircraft carriers to be built.
First launched on April 26 of 2017 and the sea trial may be officiallylaunched on April 23 as part of China’s Navy Day. The speed ofconstruction may well be remarkable but officials also point out thequality of construction as one of the main highlights of Type 001A. “Thequality of our construction is also world-class. For example, theworld-class standard for the flatness of the flight deck is not more than 4percent, and we made it lower than 3 percent,” Liu told certain members ofthe Chinese press.
Naming the carrier has also been a matter of intense speculation in China.Several social media users in the country have suggested that it should becalled ‘Taiwan’ while others say it should be named ‘Shi Lang’ – an admiralbelieved to have re-captured Taiwan during the reign of Qing Dynasty.Security analysts say, however, that the suggestions are not meant toantagonise people of Taiwan and that the final name would likely follow thepattern of naming ships after Chinese provinces and municipalities.
Whatever be the name, the fact that the Type 001A is ready for sea trialsis being seen as a testament to a country in top gear towards not justmodernising its military but doing so at home. Currently, the country onlyhas a solitary aircraft carrier – Liaoning – in service. Commissioned in2012, the Liaoning was originally constructed for the Soviet Army in 1980sbefore being put up for sale by Ukraine. It is mostly used by the PLA Navyfor training purposes. Introduction of another aircraft carrier is expectedto ring alarm bells to varying degrees in Japan, the United States and evenIndia – all countries with at least one aircraft carrier.