"What exactly is this ship in the south? I think there are several possibilities:
1. A deeply upgraded variant of the 003, whose relationship to the 003 is similar to that between the 054B and 054A. The 003's final design was likely finalized around 2018, making it at least 7 years old now. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, there would have been enough time to address the 003's weaknesses and develop a significantly improved variant.
2. A minor upgrade variant of the 003, whose relationship to the 003 is like that between the 054A and the 054AG (100mm gun version). This would be the safest and quickest solution, but the actual gains might be smaller compared to a deeply upgraded 003, making it less cost-effective overall.
3. A newly designed large conventional-powered CV, whose relationship to the 003 is akin to that between the Kitty Hawk/Kennedy class and the Midway class. Such a project could indeed exist, and some supporting evidence (not the "carrier mockup building") has emerged. However, the implementation challenges are significant, so this remains to be seen.
4. The second hull of the northern CVN—i.e., the new CVN project being split between northern and southern shipyards for hulls 1 and 2, respectively. This possibility isn't zero, but there’s no corroborating evidence yet, so it seems unlikely.
5. A new-type DDH/LHA. Such vessels typically wouldn’t require Jiangnan Shipyard to build them—Hudong could handle it—so this is the least likely scenario.
In short, unless there’s definitive, authoritative, and pointed information confirming it, we shouldn’t label the southern ship as '003A' just yet. At least hold off on conclusions for now. Of course, if you’ve already received explicit information from the PLAN and the 701 Institute, that’s another matter."
Someone commented that CETC once released a CG image of the improved 003, with an additional elevator and the jet blast deflector no longer interfering with the runway.
