PLANS Shandong (17)

Shandong and Liaoning operating together.

The PLANS Shandong (17) (Chinese: 山东舰) is a first-generation Chinese aircraft carrier that was launched on April 26^th 2017 for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is the country's second aircraft carrier after the completion of Liaoning, and the first built domestically. Shandong was initially designated as a Type 001A aircraft carrier during development but was finalized as Type 002 at commissioning.

Specifications

• Type: Aircraft Carrier
• Service Period: 2019-
• Characteristics:
  • Length: 1,033 feet (314.86 meters)
  • Beam (Waterline): 125 feet (38.1 meters)
  • Beam (Flight Deck): 246 feet 1 inch (75.01 meters)
  • Draft: 36 feet (10.97 meters)
  • Displacement: 55,000 tons (Standard); 70,000 tons (Full Load)
• Crew: 2,626 (1,960 ship crew, 626 air crew, 40 flag staff)
• Installed Power:
  • 9 x 2,011 hp (1,500 kW) turbogenerators
  • 6 x 2,011 hp (1,500 kW) diesel generators
• Propulsion: 8 x boilers, 4 x steam turbines, 4 x shafts, 200,000 shp, 4 x fixed pitch propellers
• Range:
• Speed: 32 knots (59.26 km/h)
• Sensor Suite:
  • Type 346A Sea Star Phased Array Radar
  • H/LJQ-382 3D Air Search Radar
• Countermeasures:
• Armament:
  • 2 x Type 1030 CIWS
  • 4 x FL-3000N CIWS (fires 18 HHQ-10 SAMs each)
• Aircraft Carried: 56 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters (40 x Shenyang J-15, 6 x Changhe Z-18F, 6 x Changhe Z-18J, 2 x Changhe Z-18, 2 x Harbin Z-9C)

History

Construction

Shandong was constructed by the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, part of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, in Dalian, Liaoning province, China. According to the state media service Xinhua, they started fabrication of vessel in November 2013, and laid down the keel for its hull in a drydock beginning in March 2015. The Chinese government did not publicly confirm the ship's existence until construction was well underway. Satellite imagery for the defense analysis industry showed the aircraft carrier in the early stages of hull assembly by March 2015. Public photos of a hull with military characteristics at the Dalian shipyard surfaced on the internet the next month. In October 2015, the first definitive signs of the vessel's role appeared when construction of a hangar deck began on the hull. In December 2015, a Chinese defense ministry spokesman confirmed that the ship was an aircraft carrier, stating that the design and construction work was under way.

In May 2016, the ski jump takeoff ramp was noted to be close to installation. The ship's island superstructure was fabricated in two parts: the nine-deck forward half, containing the bridge and main mast, was installed by September of that year; the aft half, with the funnel and air intakes, was installed in the weeks that followed. By the end of 2016, the ship was substantially structurally complete.

Fitting out

Following the launch, the carrier was fitted-out and underwent early tests of the propulsion system. The dockside system trials began after the out-fitting was completed in November 2017.

At the time of its launch, the ship was not expected to be delivered to PLAN until 2020; however, successful early tests put the project ahead of schedule and media reports indicated that it could enter the navy fleet in 2019. While its predecessor Liaoning has been used largely as a training ship since it entered active service in 2012, the Type 002 is expected to be used in regular military operational service.

Sea Trials

The first sea trial of the carrier took place in May 2018 in the Bohai Sea. This was followed by eight more trials through November 2019 for a total of about 19 months before the carrier was commissioned. The ninth and final sea trial, which commenced from November 14^th 2019, was conducted simultaneously with a training exercise in South China Sea. The dates and durations of the sea trials are as follow:

• First sea trial: May 13^th–May 18^{th 2018}
• Second sea trial: August 26^th–September 4^th 2018
• Third sea trial: October 28^th–November 6^th 2018
• Fourth sea trial: December 27^th 2018–January 8^th 2019
• Fifth sea trial: February 27^th-March 4^th 2019
• Sixth sea trial: May 25^th –May 31^st 2019
• Seventh sea trial: August 1^st –August 4^th 2019 and August 6^th–August 22^nd 2019
• Eighth sea trial: October 15^th–October 20^th 2019
• Ninth sea trial: from November 14^th-November 20^th 2019

The arresting gear was installed on September 11^th 2018 after the second sea trial. This was immediately followed by flight tests of the J–15, Z–18 and Z–9 on September 14^th 2018. J–15D, the Electronic Warfare (EW) version of the aircraft, was also spotted on deck on October 9^th 2018.

Commissioning

The carrier was commissioned on 17 December 17^th 2019 at Sanya, Hainan by President Xi and was officially named Shandong. After commissioning, Shandong would still need to reach Initial Operational Capability (IOC) or basic standards for deployment, which its predecessor Liaoning only attained six years after commissioning in 2018. Lai Yijun, a senior captain who previously commanded PLAN frigate Lianyungang (连云港号护卫舰) was the captain of Shandong at commissioning.