China has started testing the power system of its first domestically-built aircraft carrier, and hopes to begin a mooring test next month ahead of schedule, the project's head said.
Hu Wenming, head of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation who has chaired the research and development of the Type 001A carrier, announced the tests on Monday during an interview with China Central Television's Asia Today program.
"The mooring test will show that the aircraft carrier's engine and electric power supply are capable of functioning properly and independently. And I believe that we can begin the mooring test next month," Hu explained, adding this will indicate whether the vessel's equipment is ready for a sea test.
The mooring test would fully activate all of the ship's systems, including its power, communication and direction systems while it remains in the shipyard, a step before a series of sea tests for different purposes, Li Jie, a Beijing-based naval expert, told the Global Times.
A mooring test and a sea test are the final stages an aircraft carrier must pass before it begins active service, Hu said.
Hu added that the Type 001A leads the world's 40,000 to 60,000 ton-class carriers in terms of technology.
Both the Typ001A and its carrier-based airplanes are entirely home made, and that is an advantage, Li said.
For example, Li said some of the aircraft on UK carriers are from the U.S.
The carrier's independent design proves China has made breakthroughs in its metallurgy capability, Cao Weidong, a researcher at the PLA Navy's Academic Research Institute, was quoted as saying by the People's Daily on Tuesday.
The deck area has likewise been modified to favor more aircraft over guns and missiles as attack weapons, and the flight-deck operations command center is more concealed, Cao added.
The Type 001A, China's second aircraft carrier, was launched in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province on April 26.
