 "Varyag" was eventually completed and commissioned in 2012 as China's first aircraft carrier, the Type 001 aircraft carrier .China subsequently constructed a third ship to a modified Type 002 design, commissioning in 2019.The "Kuznetsov"-class ships were described by their Soviet builders as "Tyazholiy Avianesushchiy Kreyser" (TAKR or TAVKR) – "heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser” – intended to support and defend strategic missile-carrying submarines, surface ships, and maritime missile-carrying aircraft of the Soviet fleet.