我國首艘國產航母預計今年稍晚時候下水

China's second aircraft carrier is scheduled to be launched later this year and is expected to enter service by 2020, according to Xu Guangyu, a retired Chinese military officer and consultant to the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

我國退役軍官、中國軍控與裁軍協會理事徐光裕表示，我國第二艘航母將於今年晚些時候下水，預計2020年前服役。

Yin Zhuo, a Chinese naval expert, also confirmed in a CCTV interview that China's first home-made aircraft carrier is expected to be launched in water in early 2017.

我國海軍專家尹卓在接受央視採訪時也證實，我國首艘國產航母預計在2017年年初下水。

The aircraft carrier is the first of the Type 001A class, and represents an important step in advancing China's naval power.

該航空母艦是第一隻001A型航母，是推進中國的海軍力量的重要一步。

There is still a large amount of work to do at the carrier's outfitting stage after its launching. It will take about one to two years to carry out functional debugging for its devices as well as weapons and equipment.

該艘航母下水後的舾裝階段還有大量工作需要完成。航母搭載的設備和武器裝備的功能性調試大約需要一兩年。

The new aircraft carrier could begin its sea trial by early 2019, Xu said.

徐光裕稱，新航母可能在2019年年初前開始海試。

He also mentioned that Chinese carrier pilots are also undertaking training, and they expect to form two aviation units.

他還提到，我國的艦載機飛行員也在進行訓練，爭取發展到2個飛行團的規模。