January 17, 2021

China's third aircraft carrier, expected to be very different from the previous two with much larger displacement and featuring electromagnetic catapults, could be launched in 2021 and enter naval service around 2025, media reports predicted based on recent photos of the ship's construction site.

According to latest, openly available photos, blocks of the Type 003 aircraft carrier are being assembled in Shanghai and the general outline of the warship is already identifiable, Ordnance Industry Science Technology, a Chinese defense industry magazine, said in a report published in its WeChat account on Saturday.

After all the blocks are put together, the upper structures will be installed, the report said, noting that since the blocks are built in advance, the assembly and the outfitting work will take much less time compared with China's second aircraft carrier.

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