High-resolution satellite images show that the construction of China’s first full-sized aircraft carrier is progressing steadily alongside expansive infrastructure work that analysts say suggests the ship will be the first of several large vessels produced at the site.
The images of the Jiangnan Shipyard outside Shanghai were taken last month and provided by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), building on satellite photographs it obtained in April and September last year.
Noting a series of prefabricated sections, bulkheads and other components stacked nearby, CSIS analysts said that the hull should be finished within 12 months, after which it is likely to be moved to a newly created harbor and wharf before being fitted out.
The vast harbor on the Yangtze River estuary, including a wharf nearly 1km long and large buildings for manufacturing ship components, is nearly complete.
Much of the harbor area appeared to be abandoned farmland just a year ago, according to earlier images that CSIS analyzed.
It dwarfs an existing harbor nearby, where destroyers and other warships are docked.
“We can see slow but steady progress on the hull, but I think the really surprising thing these images show is the extensive infrastructure buildup that has gone on simultaneously,” CSIS analyst Matthew Funaiole said. “It is hard to imagine all this is being done for just one ship. This looks more like a specialized space for carriers and or other larger vessels.”
Singapore-based military analyst Collin Koh (高瑞連) said the modern, purpose-built facility on a sparsely populated island in the Yangtze might provide better security than the congested shipyards of Dalian in northern China.
It could also help deepen cooperation between commercial and military shipbuilders, he said.
The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies this year said that China’s military shipyards were focusing increasingly on larger surface warships, “adding to the sense that Chinese naval-capability development may be entering a new phase.”
China’s navy has recently launched four Type 055 cruisers and its first large helicopter carrier, known as the Type 075.
China’s military has not formally announced plans for a new carrier, designated Type 002, but official state media have said it is being built.
The Pentagon said it in its annual survey of China’s military modernisation, published in May, that work on a new carrier had begun.
The Chinese Ministry of Defence did not respond to questions from reporters.
Funaiole said the latest images appeared to confirm the earlier photos, which suggested that the latest carrier would be somewhat smaller the 100,000-tonne “supercarriers” operated by the US, but larger than France’s 42,500-tonne Charles de Gaulle.
The images were released by the CSIS China Power Project yesterday.
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