China's first home-built aircraft carrier is nearing completion. Satellite photographs indicate most major construction is complete, though much remains to be done and the carrier probably won't be operational until 2020 at the earliest.

The ship is the first of the Type 001A class and has been tentatively nicknamed "CV17" by China-watchers. China's first carrier, Liaoning, is CV16. Liaoning was originally a Soviet aircraft carrier and was bought in the late 1990s as scrap—with the stated intention of being converted into a casino. But she found her way into the hands of the Chinese Navy and spent more than a decade being refitted before being finally commissioned in 2012. China is building CV17 itself. Here's video of Liaoning conducting flight operations in the Yellow Sea:

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Like Liaoning, CV17 has a ski ramp to assist aircraft takeoffs. The U.S. Navy uses a more efficient steam-powered catapult system to launch aircraft and is transitioning to electromagnetic propulsion in the new USS Gerald R. Ford-class ships. The presence of a ski ramp on CV17 suggests that China has not fully mastered the catapult system and is sticking to what it knows for now.

A major problem with using ski ramps is that only jet-powered aircraft can launch from them. Planes like the E-2D Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft and the C-2 Greyhound cargo transport are powered by turboprops and can't generate enough onboard power to launch themselves this way. This will limit the carrier's ability to detect air and sea threats at a distance and remain supplied far from port.

China's first aircraft carrier, CV-16 Liaoning.

While CV17 appears largely complete in the new photos, the flight deck remains uninstalled. That's so construction workers can access the hangar and other interior spaces, using massive orange cranes to lower equipment into the bowels of the ship.

The new carrier is thought to be displace 60,000 to 70,000 tons. That's far short of the Ford class's 100,000 tons. It will probably carry something in the area of 48 aircraft, including 36 J-15 multi-role carrier-based fighters and another dozen Z-18 or Z-9 helicopters. The new ship will probably be launched from drydock sometime early next year and will float pierside for the rest of the refitting process. That will take at least a few years, and ship trials will take another year or two. Don't expect to see her sailing to any hotspots until 2020 or later.

H/T: Jane's

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