我国首艘国产航母预计今年稍晚时候下水

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.

我国退役军官、中国军控与裁军协会理事徐光裕表示，我国第二艘航母将于今年晚些时候下水，预计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.

我国海军专家尹卓在接受央视采访时也证实，我国首艘国产航母预计在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.

该航空母舰是第一只001A型航母，是推进中国的海军力量的重要一步。

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.

该艘航母下水后的舾装阶段还有大量工作需要完成。航母搭载的设备和武器装备的功能性调试大约需要一两年。

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

徐光裕称，新航母可能在2019年年初前开始海试。

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

他还提到，我国的舰载机飞行员也在进行训练，争取发展到2个飞行团的规模。