00X/004 future nuclear CATOBAR carrier thread

[mack8]

Holy space potato images. Well i can hardly make head or tail of what i'm looking at, so what has been done, the two modules previously seen widely separated have been moved and joined together, or more modules have been placed inbetween, then joined?

 

[HailingTX20]

del

 

[dingyibvs]

Holy space potato images. Well i can hardly make head or tail of what i'm looking at, so what has been done, the two modules previously seen widely separated have been moved and joined together, or more modules have been placed inbetween, then joined?

Looks like the module to the left was moved to join with the other module. You can use the greyish structure on top as a reference.

 

[Deino]

…

 

[ACuriousPLAFan]

…

View attachment 162679

For note, this satellite photo was taken just today (October 16th) by Copernicus.

Per SOYO, the overall length of the cojoined section lies roughly around 172-185 meters. For reference, the central section of the Ford-class CVN while under construction inside the Newport News drydock is about 175-178 meters:



In the meantime, it has been noted that the hull construction and assembly works may have been accelerated, and the current stage of work is likely equivalent to Fujian sometime in 2019.

There are some estimations that this ship could be launched as early as 2027, though I'd say that 2028 is a more cautious and safer time frame.