A few days ago, we heard from fzgfzy that progress on the '003' (formerly 002) carrier has been accelerated.
Soon after that, pop3 also followed up with a note that construction is progressing smoothly.
...
Earlier today, fgzfzy put up a new post regarding the new carrier. It's nothing substantial, but I think it's worth sharing.
"15年以前大连的二号舰航母的分段或组立，不是专业人士是根本分析不出来的。（还好大猫一直有安排拍摄，留下宝贵资料）。那次也是分水岭，实际检验了军迷也只是军迷，大神级军迷也没用。即使大段入坞都还吵了半天是不是油轮。不过这次江南就好办多了，虽然拍摄角度不好，但是是新厂，目前也不可能是别的船，所以新厂这只要有任何小组立一旦出来，就是航母三号舰，然后就死了拍吧，哈哈…"
"When parts for the 002 carrier (i.e. 001A) were fabricated, non-professionals simply could not identify them [as being for a carrier]. Thankfully, I've been keeping a record of those developments to preserve the information. That was a watershed moment, which showed that at the end of the day, military fans were just military fans, and even the most knowledgeable of them were at a loss. Even when the modules were assembled in drydock, there was still much debate as to whether the ship really was a carrier or just a civilian vessel.
However, this time at Jiangnan, it's a lot more straightforward. Even though camera angles aren't very good, the facility (referring to place of assembly) is brand new, and there is no possibility that any ship constructed there is not the 003. Hence, the moment we see components appearing there, we will know that assembly of the 003 has begun."
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Two ships of this class will be constructed.
