The Shandong was launched for the People's Liberation Army Navy, China's first domestically built aircraft carrier. Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong: Shandong is a Chinese aircraft carrier that was launched on 26 April 2017 for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of the People's Republic of China. She is the country's first domestically built aircraft carrier and second in PLAN service after the completion and commissioning of Liaoning, from which she is derived. Shandong's class was initially suspected to be designated Type 001A but was revealed to be Type 002 at her commissioning ceremony. The class received the NATO reporting name Kuznetsov Mod. ("modified"), since the design of the ship is a modified version of and similar to the Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier originally made for the Soviet Navy. April 26, 2017. Wiki link