China’s first domestically produced aircraft carrier

Many foreign media reports

On August 2, 2013, according to the British "Jane's Defense Weekly" website, there were photos showing that China's first aircraft carrier was under construction, approaching The hull of a ship at Jiangnan Shipbuilding Group's Changxing Island shipyard in Shanghai is likely to be part of China's first locally built aircraft carrier.

A set of photos of the hull appeared on Chinese military forums and websites, and the satellite images of Changxing Island taken by the American Digital Earth Company on March 3, 2013 also confirmed this set of photos. The ship's keel structure is very different from the commercial ships currently being built in surrounding shipyards.

A miniature model of Jiangnan Shipbuilding Group’s Changxing Island Shipyard also proves the authenticity of these photos. This model, unveiled in 2009, shows an aircraft carrier in dry dock. At the same time, the shipyard also put up a slogan saying that it was "determined and capable of building China's first large surface combat ship."

On August 5, 2013, according to an article published by the Japanese Diplomat magazine by Harry Kazanis, assistant editor of the website, there were reports that China had begun building a second aircraft carrier. China's current aircraft carrier Liaoning was rebuilt from an unfinished abandoned aircraft carrier of the former Soviet Union. If reports based on pictures circulating on Chinese military forums are correct, China's latest aircraft carrier will be its first domestically produced aircraft carrier, which is an important milestone. However, the article pointed out that it will take about ten years for this aircraft carrier to have an impact on the security environment in Asia.

According to the August 2013 issue of Canada's "Hanhe Defense Review" (published in advance), the Jiangnan Changxing Island Shipyard in Shanghai, China, has completed the construction of a segmented aircraft carrier model on an indoor slipway. The article stated that the leaders of the Chinese Navy visited this model, which simulated a segment of the aircraft carrier in a full-scale manner, which means that the construction of the Chinese aircraft carrier uses segmented technology and is finally assembled.

Google Maps has also updated data on the Jiangnan Changxing Island Shipyard area, and satellite images of the so-called Chinese aircraft carrier segmented model have also been exposed. On Google Maps, the dimensions of this aircraft carrier component can also be measured using a distance measurement tool.