China’s new aircraft carrier to pack more jet power than the Liaoning
- The Type 001A is big departure from its sister, says shipbuilding chief
- Lessons from Liaoning were put to good use on new vessel, says commentator
China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier will take 36 fighter planes to sea when it is commissioned, 12 more than its sister ship the Liaoning, according to state media.
The new Type 001A was an upgraded version of the Liaoning, a former Soviet Kuznetsov-class carrier, with a much smaller control tower “island” but greater displacement, Hu Wenming, chief of the ship’s construction programme, said in an interview with CCTV on Tuesday.
“The two carriers look similar, but from a design and research and development perspective they are essentially different,” Hu, president of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), was quoted as saying.
While the Type 001A retained the Liaoning’s ski-jump flight deck, at 315 metres (1,033ft) it is 10 metres longer. The new ship has a full displacement of 70,000 tonnes, compared with the Liaoning’s 58,600 tonnes.
Unlike the Liaoning, the new carrier has a Type 346 “Star of the Sea” digital radar system and hangar space for 12 more J-15 fighters than its sister ship.
The Liaoning carries 14 helicopters and has a crew of about 2,000. Both ships are powered by four-shaft conventional steam turbines, although the top speed of the Type 001A is 31 knots, slower than the Liaoning’s 32.