China’s second carrier to hold sea trials

China’s first indigenous aircraft carrier could take to the sea for the first time in February. The Type 001A Shandong is an improved variant of China’s only operational carrier, the Type 001 Liaoning

Aircraft: About 24-30 J-15 fighters
Helicopters: Up to 16 – for search and rescue, airborne early warning, ASW* and transport missions

J-15 “Flying Shark” – variant of Russian Su-33

Control tower: Modernised structure with S-band AESA† radar

Ski-jump: 12-degree ramp assists take-off, but aircraft cannot launch carrying full fuel and weapon load

Propulsion: Conventional steam turbines with diesel generators. Cruising speed 32 knots (59km/h)

Armament: 3 x 30mm rapid-fire guns, 3 x HHQ-10 missile defence systems, 2 x ASW rocket launchers‡

Landing: Aircraft use angled flight deck and series of arrestor cables stretched across runway

Elevators (x2): Move aircraft between hangar and flight deck
Length: 315m
Beam  75m 

*Anti-submarine warfare. †Active electronically scanned array – four-panel antenna covers 360-degree search field to detect and track multiple targets in air and at sea. ‡Armament details are for Liaoning – Type 001A likely to carry similar weapons

CARRIER COMPARISON
Displacement (tonnes)
Nimitz-class
U.S. 100,000 
Queen Elizabeth
UK 65,000 
Shandong
China 63,500 
Adm. Kuznetsov
Russia 58,500 
Liaoning
China 55,000

Sources: CSIS, The Diplomat, Global Security, Popular Science © GRAPHIC NEWS