China launches third aircraft carrier
CNS Fujian, Asia’s largest ever warship, leaves dry dock, conducts sea trials and various tests
China unveiled its third aircraft carrier on June 17 in Shanghai, naming it after the eastern coastal province of Fujian.
Upon its completion, the gigantic ship will displace more than 80,000 metric tons of water, making it the largest and mightiest warship any Asian nation has ever built, and also one of the world’s biggest naval vessels of all time.
According to the People’s Liberation Army Navy, the ship will use an electromagnetic launch system, or electromagnetic catapult, to launch fixed-wing aircraft, which will give it a much greater combat capability than its two predecessors, which use ramps to launch jets.
At its launch ceremony at China State Shipbuilding Corp’s Jiangnan Shipyard Group in Shanghai on June 17, the CNS Fujian was towed out of its dry dock as color stripes were fired along the dock to celebrate the occasion.
General Xu Qiliang, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Admiral Dong Jun, commander of the PLA Navy, took part in the ceremony.
In the next phase, the carrier will undergo mooring and sea trials to comprehensively test its overall capabilities and specific equipment, the PLA Navy said.
The PLA Navy currently operates two carriers — CNS Liaoning and CNS Shandong. Both of these have a standard displacement of around 50,000 tons and a conventional propulsion system, and use a ski jump mode for launching fixed-wing aircraft.
The Liaoning was refitted from the unfinished Soviet-era carrier Varyag. It was commissioned in September 2012, becoming the PLA Navy’s first aircraft carrier.
The Shandong, the nation’s first domestically developed aircraft carrier, has a basic design similar to that of the Liaoning but has many improvements such as a greater capacity to carry aircraft and optimized design of its superstructure. It was unveiled in April 2017 and delivered to the PLA Navy in December 2019.