What to know about the Fujian, China’s newest and first self-built carrier

China has taken a major step in expanding its naval reach with the induction of its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian.

With this addition, China surpasses India, the United Kingdom, and Italy, which each operate two carriers, though it still remains well behind the US Navy's 11, according to the Associated Press.

The ship was officially commissioned this week in a ceremony attended by Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Fujian is part of Xi Jinping's massive military overhaul and expansion that aims to have a modernized force by 2035 and become “world class” by mid century

Fujian is the country's first carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapult launchers, which allow it to launch heavy, fully loaded warplanes, including early-warning and control planes without depending on land-based reconnaissance, according to the report by AP.

This means the carrier can operate far out at sea, hitting targets at long distances while its aircraft carry more fuel and weapons than ever before.

China already has two other carriers: the Liaoning and Shandong.

The Liaoning, the first carrier, was refurbished from an unfinished Soviet ship that Ukraine sold to China. The Shandong was built in China, modeled on the Liaoning.

The Fujian, by contrast, is entirely domestically designed.

All three carriers are named after coastal Chinese provinces.

Unlike the Liaoning and Shandong, which rely on upward-sloping ski-jump decks to launch aircraft and can only handle lighter fighter jets, the Fujian's catapults let it launch heavier planes, including support aircraft, the AP report added.

This gives China's navy a new level of flexibility at sea.

The Fujian is only the second carrier in the world with an electromagnetic catapult system, following America's USS Gerald R Ford.

All US carriers have catapults, but the older Nimitz-class ships use steam-powered launchers.

Steam catapults are harder on both aircraft and ship, take up more space, and require more maintenance.

Electromagnetic systems, on the other hand, can be calibrated to launch everything from lightweight drones to heavier aircraft like China's KJ-600 early warning plane, the J-35 stealth fighter, and the J-15T heavy fighter.

However, China's carriers are still not nuclear-powered, which limits how far and how long they can sail.

Estimates put the Fujian's operational range at 8,000 to 10,000 nautical miles. US carriers, in comparison, have nuclear propulsion, allowing virtually unlimited range without refueling.

China is reportedly exploring nuclear propulsion for future carriers, though there's no clear timeline yet.

In terms of size, the Fujian is slightly smaller than its American counterparts, with a full-load displacement of over 80,000 tons compared with roughly 100,000 tons for the Nimitz and Ford-class carriers.

While China has not revealed its plane capacity, experts estimate it can carry 40 to 60 aircraft, compared with 60 to 70 on US ships.

The Fujian has two aircraft elevators (versus three on the USS Ford), a smaller flight deck, and three catapults rather than four, meaning US carriers can launch planes more quickly. A second Ford-class carrier is expected to join the US fleet in 2027.

Source: Hindustan Times
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