China’s first home-grown aircraft carrier finishes maiden sea trial amid speculation Asia’s most advanced destroyer will be next
Tests continue PLA’s steady build-up of naval capabilities
China’s first domestically developed aircraft carrier concluded its maiden sea trial on Friday.
Footage of the vessel was released by state broadcaster China Central Television in a report that said: “Multiple types of equipment have been further tested and [the trial has] reached the anticipated goals.”
The voyage of the 65,000-tonne Type 001A also came amid rising speculations that the PLA’s Type 055 destroyer, Asia’s most advanced and biggest destroyer and the carrier’s likely escort, will soon start sea tests.
Photos shared on China’s social media show that the destroyer, which has a similar size and configuration as the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, is waiting at the shipyard of Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard Group in eastern China.
The Type 055 destroyer, which is equipped with air defence, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons, was believed to have been built in parallel with the Type 001A, according to military sources, as part of China’s drive to upgrade its military capabilities.
Launched in April last year, the Type 001 carrier sailed out of the northeastern port of Dalian on Sunday.
Xinhua said that the main purpose of the trial was to test its domestically developed propulsion systems.