Construction photo of the Chinese made aircraft carrier. (Photo from internet)

When receiving an interview at a program of China's CCTV, military expert Cao Weidong said that based on the construction progress reported by the media, China's second aircraft carrier may enter the water at the end of this year or early next year.

According to a report made by CCTV, recently, many construction photos of China's second aircraft carrier were disclosed on the internet. The photos show that the hoisting of a section of the bow was finished recently. And based on the photos disclosed previously, the flight deck of the aircraft carrier has completed installation, and the construction of the ship has entered the final stage. 

Based on the published construction photos and satellite photos, this aircraft carrier under construction is almost the same size as the other aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. 

Speaking of when this aircraft carrier will enter the water and be deployed to the troops, Cao Weidong said that the construction of a ship usually has three stages: construction, entering the water and being in service.

Construction means the building-up of the ship body. Entering the water means the ship floats on the sea but cannot leave its pier, during which stage relevant equipment will be installed in the ship; this stage is also called the fitting-out. After this stage, the ship will go through sea trails to examine its speed and the precision of the weapons. If the ship passes the sea trails with all the indicators reaching the standard, then the ship will be deployed, namely, being in service. 

According to Cao Weidong, after the flight deck is completed, it takes about a half year or nine months for the ship to enter the water for the fitting-out. So, based on the media reports on the construction progress, the second aircraft carrier will enter the water at the end of this year or early next year.