CV-18 Fujian - Type 003 Aircraft Carrier News & Discussions

[LKJ86]

Via https://tieba.baidu.com/p/7056984301

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

November 15

One final big gap remains.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

How it is going to look like before being launched.

Never mind about the superstructure and the number of catapults.

 

[LKJ86]

October 14, 2020

Via Google Earth and @核动力航母时代 from Weibo

 

[Deino]

October 14, 2020
View attachment 689682View attachment 689683
Via Google Earth and @核动力航母时代 from Weibo

Wow ... and here's my latest attempt - and as always please correct me if I'm wrong - would be 296 m long and 40.4 m width.

@ChineseTiger1986

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Wow ... and here's my latest attempt - and as always please correct me if I'm wrong - would be 296 m long and 40.4 m width.

View attachment 689712

@ChineseTiger1986

The 'smallest gap' in that picture was not really a gap, but a joint that hadn't finished being welded seamlessly.

I still hold my initial prediction of 315-320 meters waterline, and 41 meters in width.

The current state in November is over 300 meters long without the bulbous bow module.

 

[LKJ86]

The 'smallest gap' in that picture was not really a gap, but a joint that hadn't finished being welded seamlessly.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

View attachment 689744

On the other side you can see the steel beam being connected as the joint.

BTW, this pic is too old from October 14, and we need more recent pic to make further conclusions.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Possibly the bulbous bow and a pair of radiation shielding boxes.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

The wave piercing bow has not been included yet, so the GE image has some severe distortion.

Even if the current module is around 296 meters, the final waterline length including the wave piercing bow should be 315 - 320 meters.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

November 28, 2020

They are ready to weld everything into one piece, and expect the bulbous bow module to join it by early 2021.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

November 29, 2020

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Another pic with slightly better resolution.

And hopefully there will be a clearer pic from the aerial view by December.

 

[Tipu7]

What's the expected timeline of 003? Launch, trials and commissioning?

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

What's the expected timeline of 003? Launch, trials and commissioning?

Launch: June 2021
Sea Trial: August-September 2022
Commissioning: December 2023
Combat Ready: Early 2025

Of course, these are just my own speculation.