Ao Jun-class aircraft carrier

The Ao Jun-class aircraft carriers are three light nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the navy of Songguo. They are each 993 feet long, with a ski-jump flight deck, and displace about 55,000 tons. They are each powered by a single pressurized water reactor, and are Songguo's main naval air platforms. Their main purpose is to defend Songguo's territorial waters, primarily by providing an air screen for the navy's major surface combatants, missile boat squadrons, and submarines. The Ao Jun, the lead ship of the class, was laid down in 1976 and completed in 1980. The Ao Bing, the second member of the class, was laid down in 1977 and was almost complete in 1981 when budget constraints led to her completion and launch being indefinitely postponed. The third member of the class, Ao Ming, had also been delayed indefinitely, and it would not be until after the Blue Banner Rebellion and the 6-6 Crisis that Ao Ming was actually laid down and Ao Bing was launched. Ao Ming was completed in 1988, having been laid down in 1985, and was originally built with systems that her sister ships would later need to have added in or replaced. All three vessels have undergone numerous modernizations, and in addition to their complement of aircraft carry guided missiles and surface-to-air missiles.