By Qiu Yue and Zhao Yuanzhi
BEIJING, Oct. 31 (ChinaMil) -- Hong Kong media reported that China's first domestically-made aircraft carrier had departed from the Dalian Shipyard in northeast China's Liaoning Province for its third sea trial on the morning of October 28, according to Global Times.
Chinese military expert Cao Weidong said in an interview that the sea trial is a more comprehensive test, and only three sea trials cannot complete all necessary testing subjects. If the entire sea trial can be completed within one year, then it means that the sea trial work of China's first domestically-made aircraft carrier is progressing smoothly, said Cao.
According to reports, several tugboats began to move close to the domestic aircraft carrier at 9 a.m. on October 28. Firecrackers and saluting guns were fired to celebrate the third sea trial of China's first domestically-made aircraft carrier at around 10 a.m. Then the tugboats began to tow the aircraft carrier to the sea trial area. According to the photo published online, the No. 89 comprehensive support ship of the Chinese PLA Navy also sailed together with the aircraft carrier for the first time.
Compared with the previous two sea trials, the third sea trial will be a more comprehensive test involving more systems, said Cao. The sea trail is a test from simple to complex and from a single system to the whole system. Therefore, the number of people participating in the sea trial and the equipment to be tested will increase. Accordingly, the comprehensive support ship sailed together with the aircraft carrier. "It is both a big hotel for support personnel and a large warehouse for spare equipment,"added Cao.
The website of Taiwan's CTnews reported that the arresting cable and the side whip-shaped antenna had been installed in place, and various models of carrier-based aircraft had appeared on the flight deck based on the photos of the scene. The report believed that these models are for adaptability tests with the aircraft carrier.
Cao introduced that the adaptability test will mainly test if the carrier-based aircraft can be normally dispatched on the deck, if they fit the hangar, and if the lift can carry the aircraft. The adaptability training of fighter jets is very complicated as it covers the basic aircraft dispatching and the more difficult take-off and landing.Only when the basic test is completed step by step, can the carrier-based aircraft be brought to the aircraft carrier for testing, and finally for take-off and landing training, according to Cao.
Cao said that it is China's first fully domestic aircraft carrier. It is a very large system and each of the work is a new exploration. If the entire sea trial can be completed in a year or so, it is still considered relatively fast.
"Three sea trials will not be able to complete all the testing subjects. Only when all the tests are completed, can we say that the aircraft carrier will be delivered soon," said Cao.
Disclaimer: The authors are Qiu Yue and Zhao Yuanzhi with the Global Times. The article is translated from Chinese into English by China Military online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Chinamil.com.cn does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity.
