Navy

China Building Its First Aircraft Carrier Using Soviet Plans

China has confirmed that it will construct an aircraft carrier domestically for the first time to accompany the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's sole existing carrier, the Liaoning, according to reports in the Chinese press last week.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported confirmation from China's Defense Ministry that the country's second aircraft carrier will be constructed at the Dalian shipyard, which is located on the Liaodong Peninsula in Northeast China.

China will construct the vessel according to the Soviet blueprint the Chinese navy obtained when it bought its Liaoning aircraft carrier from Ukraine's Black Sea Shipyard in 1998. Construction began on the Kuznetsov-class carrier for the Soviet fleet in 1985; it was first called the Riga, then the Varyag, and was launched to sea in 1988.