China starts construction of second indigenous aircraft carrier

Work on China's secondlocally designed and built aircraft carrier will soon get under way at Jiangnan Shipyard.
When completed, the carrier and another under construction in Dalian will give the PLA Navy two fully functioning, battle-ready aircraft carriers.
The recently completed Liaoning, the refitted former Soviet carrier Varyag, is classed as a training platform, not a full combat vessel, by the navy, since it went into service in September 2012.
The new carrier to be built at the Jiangnan Shipyard will use conventional, not nuclear power.
Military experts said China would not attempt a nuclear-powered carrier until a range of issues were resolved, such as the reliability of nuclear-powered engines, crew training and establishing a reliable home port for carrier maintenance.
Chinese shipbuilding industry sources said the design for the second carrier had not been completed.
The first locally designed carrier is being built in Dalian, where the Liaoning was completed in a decade-long fit-out.
The Dalian Shipyard completed the new carrier's steel plate cutting ceremony at the end of last year.
scmp.com