Hong KONG / BEIJING (Reuters) – a high-resolution satellite image shows construction of China’s first full-size aircraft carrier is steadily progressing along with extensive infrastructure work that analysts say suggests the ship will be the first of several large vessels produced at the facility.

The images of the Jiannan shipyard outside Shanghai were taken last month and provided to Reuters by the nonpartisan center for strategic and international studies (CSIS), drawing on satellite photos taken in April and September last year.

Noting a series of prefabricated sections, bulkheads and other components stacked nearby, CSIS analysts say the hull should be finished within 12 months, after which it will likely be moved to a newly created Harbor and Marina before being outfitted.

The huge Harbor at the mouth of the Yangtze river, including a pier nearly 1 kilometer long and large buildings for the production of ship components, is almost complete. Much of the harbour appears to have been abandoned farmland just a year ago, according to earlier CSIS images analysed.

It dwarfs the existing Harbor nearby where destroyers and other warships are moored.

? We can see slow but steady progress on the hull, but I think what’s really surprising is what these images show is an extensive build-up of infrastructure that’s going on at the same time.? CSIS analyst Matthew Funaiole said.

? Is it hard to imagine that all this is done for only one ship?? he added. ? It’s more like a dedicated space for carriers and or other large vessels.?

Singapore-based military analyst Colleen Koch said a modern, purpose-built facility on a sparsely populated island in the Yangtze could provide better security than Dalian’s overloaded shipyards in Northern China. It could also help deepen cooperation between commercial and military shipbuilders.

The London-based international Institute for strategic studies noted this year that China’s military shipyards are increasingly focusing on larger surface ships, adding to the sense that the development of the Chinese Navy may be entering a new phase.?

China’s Navy recently launched four large type 055 cruisers and its first large helicopter carrier, known as the Type 075.

China?the s military has not officially announced plans for a third carrier, designated Type 002, but official state MEDIA have said it is under construction.

The Pentagon said its annual review of China’s military modernization, released in may, said work had begun on a third aircraft carrier.

China’s defense Ministry did not respond to questions from Reuters.

Funaiole said the latest images appeared to confirm earlier photos that suggested the latest carrier would be a slightly smaller 100,000-ton ?supercarriers? run by the US, but more than France?s 42500-ton Charles de Gaulle.

Asian and Western militaries are closely watching developments. They say this carrier would represent a vital step in China’s ambitions to create a far-ranging Navy that can project power around the world to serve Beijing?s expanding global interests.

A series of recent Reuters special reports showed how these efforts challenge decades of U.S. strategic superiority in East Asia.

(Click this link to read the series: here)

It is expected to be China’s first aircraft carrier with a flat deck and catapult launch system, allowing for a wider range of aircraft and more well-armed fighters.

The first two aircraft carriers, which he dubbed the Type 001-class, are relatively small, accommodating only up to 25 aircraft that launch from ramps built on their decks. U.S. carriers regularly deploy nearly four times as many aircraft.

Foreign military attaches and security analysts say the type 001 ships are expected to essentially serve as training platforms for what they believe will be a fleet of up to six operational carriers by 2030.

They say that the construction and deployment of aircraft carriers is considered extremely difficult to master. Protecting such a large and vital surface target with escort ships, submarines and aircraft is a major part of the challenge.

? The PLA Navy is not saying much detail about their plans now, but we can see from their construction work that their ambitions are huge.? said one Asian military attache, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. ? And they will get there.?

Koh, research fellow in Singapore?s S S. Rajaratnam school of international studies, says the new facilities Jiannan has looked permanent and reflects China’s long-standing ambitions to bulk its fleet with more carriers and other large ships.

? We are talking about a fast and large-scale infrastructure. Could this be the beginning ?factories,? if you like, for carriers and other very large vessels,? he said.

Reporting by Greg Torode and Michael Martina. Editing By Jerry Doyle