Aircraft Carriers
Type 002 class (sub-class variant of Soviet/Russian Kusnetsov design) (1 working up)
PLAN Shandong 17, fitting out June 2019 Tyg728 [CC BY-SA]
Type 001 class Modified Kuznetsov-Class heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Varyag, left unfinished on the dissolution of the Soviet Union in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. The Ukrainian government sold the derelict “dead” ship to China in 1998 under agreement it would become a floating casino. Instead it was “re-animated” (my term) being rebuilt and converted first to a training carrier, and now an operational carrier.
Liaoning (ex- Varyag) pennant 16 (completed 2012) LOA 999′ TDISP 58,000
PLAN carrier Liaoning 16 Taiwan Island, April 2018 Ministry of Defense (Japan) Press release 2018/04/20, uploaded to wikimedia commons: 日本防衛省·統合幕僚監部 [CC BY]
Liaoning can be distinguished from the new Shandong by the squared off superstructures on the leading and trailing edges of the island, which is also has been reduced in length to free up more flight deck.
Carrier deck layout at training facility near Huangjia Lake, SW of Wuhan China. Originally constructed 2009 LOA 1,000′
This full scale mock-up in appearance is closer to the Shandong than the Liaoning, though the waist extension leading edge is not tapered, as it is on both carriers. Note also the Type 055 test superstructure at top right.
Mock carrier in Shanghai built into a lake LOA 725′ reduced layout of what appears to be closer to a US supercarrier.
