According to information published by Global Times on April 22, 2022, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy released a promotional video on China’s aircraft carrier program, which gave a very obvious hint that the country’s third aircraft carrier will be officially revealed soon.
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Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning (Picture source: Global Times)
The new carrier, expected to feature a number of new technologies including electromagnetic catapults, could be launched within 2022, experts said.
Jointly produced by the PLA Navy Political Publicity Bureau and the PLA News Broadcasting Center, the promotional video is the first of its kind, as it introduces the development of China’s aircraft carrier program, including the development of the country’s first carrier Liaoning, the second carrier Shandong and the carrier-based fighter jet J-15.
The construction of the third aircraft carrier was first confirmed by an official report in November 2018. The Xinhua News Agency reported at the time that a new type of aircraft carrier was in construction in an orderly manner on a berth.
According to the general pattern of aircraft carrier construction, it would take three to four years to launch a new carrier after the start of construction, and the third carrier should also follow this pattern.
The Type 003 aircraft carrier is a second-generation Chinese aircraft carrier under construction for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of China. It will be the first Chinese aircraft carrier to use a CATOBAR system and electromagnetic (EM) launch catapults
In December 2019, the PRC commissioned its first domestically built aircraft carrier, Shandong, which launched in 2017 and completed multiple sea trials during 2018-2019. The new carrier is a modified version of the Liaoning (Soviet Kuznetsov) design and likewise uses a ski-jump takeoff method for its aircraft.
China continued work on its second domestically built aircraft carrier in 2019, which will be larger and fitted with a catapult launch system. This design will enable 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. The PRC’s second domestically built carrier is projected to be operational by 2024, with additional carriers to follow.
