China’s highly anticipated new carrier is seen fully decorated with its dry dock filled for its debut in new satellite imagery.

在新的衛(wèi)星圖像中，中國(guó)備受期待的新航母被充分裝飾，且干船塢已經(jīng)注水，以迎接首次亮相。

The highly anticipated launch of China's newest and most advanced aircraft carrier to date, presently known as the Type 003, looks set to happen in the very near future according to satellite imagery that The War Zone has obtained from Planet Labs.

根據(jù)War Zone從Planet Lab獲得的衛(wèi)星圖像，中國(guó)最新和最先進(jìn)的航空母艦——目前被稱為003型——備受期待的下水，看起來(lái)將在不久的將來(lái)發(fā)生。

The image in question was taken at 7:21 AM Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on June 14, or 3:21 PM local time in Shanghai. At the time of publishing, it is the morning of June 15 in that city.

這張照片拍攝于6月14日協(xié)調(diào)世界時(shí)上午7:21，也就是上海當(dāng)?shù)貢r(shí)間下午3:21。本文發(fā)稿時(shí)，正是該市6月15日上午。

The shot shows the Type 003 carrier, which is still undergoing the final phases of its construction in Shanghai, in a now flooded dry dock. Decorations on the catapults, along with flags hung over its island and down its side, as well as those along the perimeter of the flight deck, are plainly visible. This is all well in line with what has been observed at previous launches of Chinese aircraft carriers and other major warships.

這張照片顯示的是003型航母，它仍然在上海進(jìn)行最后階段的建造，現(xiàn)在位于一個(gè)已注水的干船塢。彈射器上的裝飾，以及懸掛在艦島上方和側(cè)翼的旗幟，以及飛行甲板周邊的旗幟，都清晰可見(jiàn)。這與以往中國(guó)航母等主要軍艦下水的情況相吻合。

The exact date for the launch of the Type 003, construction of which began at Jiangnan Shipyard in the mid-2010s, has recently been the topic of great speculation. Experts and observers had posited that this event might have been set to occur just over two weeks ago after Shanghai's Maritime Safety Administration publicly announced that five commercial ships at Jiangnan would be moved out of the same general area of the shipyard where the carrier is being built.This would have meant the launch would have coincided with Shanghai's Dragon Boat Festival.

003型在2010年代中期開(kāi)始在江南造船廠建造，其下水的確切日期，最近一直是個(gè)廣受猜測(cè)的話題。就在兩周前，上海海事局曾公開(kāi)宣布，將把江南造船廠的五艘商船搬離建造這艘航母的造船廠。此前，專家和觀察人士曾猜測(cè)，這一事件在超過(guò)兩周前可能就發(fā)生了。這就意味著這次下水將與上海的龍舟節(jié)相重合。

The Type 003 carrier is a key centerpiece of the Chinese government's efforts to not only expand and improve its overall military capabilities, but also its ability to project that power further beyond the country's borders. The ship has an advanced catapult-assisted take-off barrier arrested recovery (CATOBAR) design that is fundamentally different from that of the PLA Navy's (PLAN) two existing carriers.

003型航母不僅是中國(guó)擴(kuò)大和提高整體軍事能力的努力的核心，也是中國(guó)進(jìn)一步向境外投射實(shí)力的能力的關(guān)鍵。該艦采用了先進(jìn)的彈射器輔助起飛攔阻回收設(shè)計(jì)，從根本上不同于中國(guó)海軍現(xiàn)有的兩艘航母。

The PLAN's Type 001 Liaoning began life as a Soviet Kuznetsov class ship, the Varyag, which was never completed, while the Type 002 Shandong is a local derivative of that design. Both are short take-off, barrier-arrested recovery (STOBAR) types that feature "ski jump" forward flight decks instead of catapults for launching aircraft. Catapults drastically increase the payloads of aircraft that can fly off the deck and it also unlocks new carrier-capable aircraft design possibilities, among many other benefits.

中國(guó)海軍001型遼寧艦的生涯，是作為蘇聯(lián)庫(kù)茲涅佐夫級(jí)瓦良格號(hào)開(kāi)始的，瓦良格號(hào)并未完成，而002型山東艦是該設(shè)計(jì)的本土衍生版。兩艦都是短距起飛攔截回收型航母，具有“滑躍”前飛行甲板，而不是采用用于發(fā)射飛機(jī)的彈射器。彈射器大大增加了飛機(jī)從甲板上起飛的有效載荷，它還開(kāi)啟了新的艦載機(jī)設(shè)計(jì)可能性，還有許多其他好處。

Beyond simply using catapults, the Type 003 has been widely reported to feature an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) rather than a more traditional steam-powered arrangement. As already noted, the ship's three catapults can be seen prominently decorated in today's satellite imagery, underscoring their particular significance.

除了簡(jiǎn)單地使用彈射器之外，003型的一種特征得到廣泛報(bào)道，它采用了電磁彈射系統(tǒng)，而不是更傳統(tǒng)的蒸汽動(dòng)力裝置。如前所述，在今天的衛(wèi)星圖像中，可以明顯看到艦上的三個(gè)彈射器，突出了它們的特殊意義。

To date, the U.S. Navy's Ford class is the only other type of carrier in the world to feature an EMALS, which, at least in principle, offers various benefits, including faster sortie generation rates and the ability to fine-tune the amount of force used to launch an aircraft. An EMALS has the potential to help reduce general wear and tear on aircraft being thrown off the deck by using only the force necessary to get them airborne and also expands the range of types that can readily make use of the system. This could include designs that are much smaller and lighter than traditional carrier aircraft, such as smaller drones and unmanned combat air vehicles.

到目前為止，美國(guó)海軍的福特級(jí)是全世界上采用EMALS的唯一的另一款航母，這種裝置至少在原則上具備各種好處，包括更快的出動(dòng)頻率和微調(diào)發(fā)射飛機(jī)所需的力量。EMALS可能通過(guò)僅使用必要的力讓飛機(jī)升空，從而減少飛機(jī)飛離甲板時(shí)造成的一般磨損，還可以擴(kuò)展范圍，讓更多型號(hào)的飛機(jī)能迅速使用這種系統(tǒng)?？赡馨ū葌鹘y(tǒng)艦載機(jī)更小、更輕的型號(hào)，比如更小的無(wú)人機(jī)和無(wú)人駕駛戰(zhàn)斗飛行器。

The Type 003 will almost certainly carry a fundamentally new air wing, compared to those found on the Liaoning and Shandong, as well. As work on the new carrier has progressed, China's state-run aviation industry has also been working on new and advanced carrier-capable aircraft including a navalized version of the F-35-esque FC-31/J-35 stealth fighter jet and the KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft, a rough analog to the U.S. Navy's E-2 Hawkeye.

與遼寧艦和山東艦相比，003型幾乎肯定會(huì)搭載一款全新的飛機(jī)。隨著這艘新航母工作的進(jìn)展，中國(guó)國(guó)有的航空工業(yè)也一直在研究新型先進(jìn)艦載機(jī)，包括海軍版的F-35型FC-31/J-35隱形戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)和KJ-600機(jī)載早期預(yù)警和控制飛機(jī)——大致類似于美國(guó)海軍的E-2鷹眼。

Improved Flanker derivatives, such as the J-15T fighter and J-15D electronic warfare jet, are likely to fly from the Type 003's deck, too. Altogether, this mix of existing and planned aircraft very much mimics the expected future composition of the U.S. Navy's carrier air wings. The PLAN has clear ambitions to integrate various tiers of unmanned platforms on all of its aircraft carriers, and other ships, too, as you can read more about here.

改進(jìn)的側(cè)翼衍生型號(hào)，例如J-15T戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)和J-15D電子戰(zhàn)噴氣機(jī)，也可能從003型的甲板上飛行?？偟膩?lái)說(shuō)，這種現(xiàn)有和計(jì)劃中的飛機(jī)的組合非常類似于美國(guó)海軍未來(lái)航母航空聯(lián)隊(duì)的預(yù)期組成。中國(guó)海軍有明確的野心，要在所有航母和其他艦艇上整合各種層次的無(wú)人平臺(tái)，在這里可以閱讀更多相關(guān)文章。

In addition, while aircraft carriers are and will continue to be important to the PLAN operational planning close to home, including in any crisis over Taiwan and in support of activities in the hotly contested South China Sea, it is actively moving to be able to deploy these ships and other surface actions groups further abroad.

此外，雖然航空母艦對(duì)中國(guó)海軍在本土附近的行動(dòng)計(jì)劃是并且將繼續(xù)是重要的，包括在（一旦發(fā)生的）臺(tái)灣（?。┪C(jī)，以及在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈的南中國(guó)海活動(dòng)的支持，它正在積極地向能夠在更遠(yuǎn)的海外部署這些艦艇和其他水面行動(dòng)群。

Last year, U.S. military officials disclosed that they had assessed that the Chinese military's naval base in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti had been expanded in such a way that it could support visits by the country's existing carriers. This facility is China's only overseas naval base to date, though it is at least seeking access to basing options elsewhere, including at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base. The Chinese government is helping to fund the expansion of that base. Cambodian authorities have persistently denied U.S. government claims that the new construction there will be exclusively for use by the PLA.

去年，美國(guó)軍方官員透露，他們?cè)u(píng)估說(shuō)，中國(guó)軍隊(duì)在非洲之角國(guó)家吉布提的海軍基地，已經(jīng)擴(kuò)大到可以支持中國(guó)現(xiàn)有航母訪問(wèn)的程度。該基地是中國(guó)迄今為止唯一的海外海軍基地，不過(guò)中國(guó)至少正在尋求選擇其他地方的基地，包括柬埔寨的雷姆海軍基地。中國(guó)正在資助該基地的擴(kuò)建。柬埔寨當(dāng)局一直否認(rèn)美國(guó)政府的說(shuō)法，即這一新基地將完全由解放軍使用。

It is important to note that, even after its launch, the Type 003 is still likely years away from entering full operational service. The move to the CATOBAR concept of operations is a massive one that will take time to perfect. The U.S. military has mostly recently said publicly that it expects the ship to enter service in 2024.

重要的是要注意到，即使在下水后，003型仍然可能需要數(shù)年時(shí)間才能實(shí)現(xiàn)全面作戰(zhàn)服務(wù)。向彈射航母操作概念的轉(zhuǎn)變是一個(gè)巨大的過(guò)程，需要時(shí)間來(lái)完善。美國(guó)軍方最近曾公開(kāi)表示，預(yù)計(jì)該艦將于2024年服役。

At the same time, the launch of the Type 003 carrier, which looks all but certain to come in the very near future, will mark an extremely important step forward in the PLAN's efforts to expand its carrier capabilities and China's growing ability to project military power around the world.

與此同時(shí)，003型航母的下水，看起來(lái)幾乎肯定會(huì)在不久的將來(lái)到來(lái)，將標(biāo)志著中國(guó)海軍在努力擴(kuò)大其航母能力，及中國(guó)在世界范圍內(nèi)投射軍事力量的能力方面，向前邁出了極其重要的一步。