After the United States, China is now the only country in the world to possess more than two aircraft carriers. Experts believe this will further fuel competition for naval power, while also being seen as a strategic challenge to India in the Indian Ocean.
The Fujian was commissioned into the Navy at a ceremony held in China’s Hainan Province. Chinese President Xi Jinping also attended the ceremony.
The aircraft carrier Fujian is 316 meters long and has a displacement of 80,000 tons. It features a flat flight deck and an electromagnetic catapult system that can launch three different types of aircraft simultaneously. Worldwide, only the United States possesses an aircraft carrier equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system. The Fujian is the largest warship ever built in Asia and China’s first warship to feature an electromagnetic catapult system.
The size of the Fujian can be gauged from the fact that it can operate 50 aircraft simultaneously. To achieve this, the ship has a flat deck and a dedicated hangar bay.
After its launch in May 2024, Fujian underwent a variety of sea trials over approximately 18 months. It can also launch heavy, fully fuel-powered aircraft. China has successfully catapult-launched the J-15T fighter, the stealth J-35, and the KJ-600.
Fujian also features advanced active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, electronic warfare systems, and short-range HQ-10 surface-to-air missiles, which can be fired from 30-millimeter Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) cannons. Fujian uses steam turbines in addition to conventional diesel-electric generators for power. However, in this respect, it lags behind US warships, which are nuclear-powered.
Six years to build:
While work on the Fujian project had already been underway, construction began in 2019. Fujian was launched at the Jiangnan Shipyard on June 17, 2022. Since then, it has undergone continuous testing. In contrast, the US Ford-class aircraft carrier took 16 years from construction to commissioning.
