China's second aircraft carrier or the country's first domestically built carrier, known as the Type 001A, might undergo its first sea trials on April 23, China's Navy Day, media reported.
Online pictures show that scaffolds on the carrier have been removed, and a phased-array radar has been installed, Science and Technology Daily reported on Monday.
It quoted sources as saying that the aircraft carrier may conduct its first sea trials on April 23, China's Navy Day.
Li Jie, a Beijing-based naval expert, told the Global Times that the second aircraft carrier improves on China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.
The second one won't be just for scientific research and training, but will be China's first combat aircraft carrier, Li said.
He added it will also provide knowledge for future projectile and nuclear powered carriers.
"All the equipment and devices on the carrier are in the joint debugging stage, and the main engine has been powered. This year, we will surprise the Chinese people," Liu Zheng, chairman of the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC) said in a China Central Television report last month.
The second carrier was launched on the DSIC construction site in Liaoning Province on April 26 2017, three days after Navy Day, and the outfitting work only took about one year.
