SEA TRIALS HAVE begun for the first domestically built aircraft carrier, state media report. Accompanying photographs (above) of the vessel being towed from its fitting-out berth in Dalian on what looks like a misty morning probably date from last month. On May 5, a Z-18 helicopter, the sort used by the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, a refit of a Soviet-era carrier, conducted a test landing and takeoff, the same precursor to the Liaoning’s sea trials in 2012. The new carrier, which is still unnamed, is expected to be go into active service in 2020, adding national pride to an increasingly potent blue-water fleet.
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