Chinese Government web site is reporting that China will start building its first aircraft carrier with 78000 displacement in August 2005.
CHINA SAID TO BEGIN BUILDING FIRST AIRCRAFT CARRIER IN AUGUST
2005/06/28 21:39:54
Taipei, June 28 (CNA) China will begin to build its first aircraft carrier in August at a cost of 30 billion yuan (about US$362 million), according to a report by China's www.Boxun.com. The report said the carrier, which the web site claims will have a displacement of 78,000 tons, will be built by the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai although this has been denied by Zhan Guangqin, deputy chief of China's Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense. The unconfirmed report quoted an unnamed engineer at the shipyard as saying that Russian experts will help with the fitting of a steam-turbine propeller that will give the giant vessel a top speed of 32 knots. It claimed that the carrier will go into service in 2006 at the earliest and that it will take two more years to combine the operations of the vessel with those of jet fighters to form a combative force. Weapons experts, however, pointed out that it seems "too optimistic" to build an aircraft carrier in just one year and to develop a battle group in three years. (By Han Nai-kuo) ENDITEM/J
http://english.www.gov.tw/index.jsp...cna&cnaid=11087