China’s biggest-ever aircraft carrier to be launched this year as new satellite pics show 1000ft-long ship taking shape

CHINA'S biggest-ever aircraft carrier could be launched this year and enter service as soon as 2024, according to reports.

Satellite images published in Chinese media show a birds-eye view of the 1000-foot ship being constructed in a Shanghai dock.

The ship - named the Type 003 - will be China's third carrier and part of an attempt to modernise and expand its military under a five-year plan.

Images obtained by Chinese defence industry magazine Ordnance Industry Science Technology (OIST) showed the ship under construction and its hull beginning to take shape.

The ship is expected to have a total displacement of around 80,000 tonnes, larger than the 60,000 tonnes of China's other two ships, though smaller than the 100,000 tonnes of the largest vessels in the US Navy.

Reports suggest it will be able to carry more than 40 fixed-wing fighters.

It will be the first carrier built by China to feature an integrated electric propulsion system, in which the propellers are powered by an electric motor, eliminating or reducing the need for gearboxes.

It is also expected to launch its aircraft using electromagnetic catapults instead of the ski-jump method used on China's other ships and older US craft.

Many of the sections of the ship have reportedly been built in advance, speeding up the assembly process.

The latest images suggest it could be launched before the end of this year, OIST reports.

In a report last week, state television channel CCTV also showed a computer-generated image of what appeared to be an aircraft carrier draped in a huge red cover.

A caption read: "We expect in 2021".

Once it is launched, the remaining fitting of the ship's equipment and interior will be completed and it will undergo testing.

The testing will reportedly take around two years, meaning the ship could be ready to enter service by 2024 or 2025.

It comes amid ongoing tensions between China and the West over control of the South China Sea as well as China's clampdown on human rights in Hong Kong and its handling of the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

States including China, Taiwan, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam make claims to parts of the South China Sea, with various others keen to maintain access to the area's shipping lanes.

An estimated $3.4trillion worth of global trade passes through the sea each year, accounting for around one third of all global maritime trade.

The region also has large fish stocks as well as huge reserves of oil and gas.

In recent years, China has attracted international condemnation over its construction of military bases in the disputed waters.

In his first address to the country's armed forces of the new year, premier Xi Jinping said the military must remain ready to “act at any second”.