China’s aircraft carrier Fujian completes 8-day sea trial
China’s third aircraft carrier, Fujian, has successfully completed its eight-day maiden sea trials. Fujian is an 80,000-tonne supercarrier with electromagnetic catapults for launching aircraft, making China the second country after the U.S. to field a supercarrier with this technology.
“During the sea trial, the aircraft carrier tested its propulsion, electrical systems, and other equipment, and achieved the expected results. In the next stage, People’s Liberation Army Navy Ship (PLANS)
Fujian will conduct followup tests according to established plans,” according to China Military Online, the English language news website of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The aircraft carrier set sail for trials from Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai on May 01.
The developments will be watched very closely by India and other countries in the region which are also planning to build aircraft carriers as Beijing rapidly expands its maritime power and presence.
Named after East China’s Fujian Province and given the hull number 18, the carrier was launched in June 2022. Last month, China announced that it is building its fourth aircraft carrier, likely a nuclear-powered supercarrier, to be unveiled very soon. China’s first aircraft carrier Liaoning was commissioned in 2012 and the second carrier Shadong was launched in 2017.
In an interview last week, outgoing Commander of Hawaii-based U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Adm John Aquilino said that in the three years since he’s been in command, China has built more than 400 aircraft, 20 major warships, and doubled its missile inventory.
Indian Navy’s carriers
Indian Navy currently operates two aircraft carriers – refurbished Russian carrier INS Vikramaditya, commissioned in 2013, and indigenously designed and built INS Vikrant, commissioned in September 2022.
In the second half of last year, the Indian Navy has moved the case for a second Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-II), a repeat of a Vikrant-like carrier which has been approved by the Defence Procurement Board last September. It is now awaiting approval by the Defence Acquisition Council, expected to be taken up after the elections.
It will take around eight to 10 years to build a new carrier, Madhu S. Nair, Chairman and Managing Director of Cochin Shipyard Limited, told The Hindu as reported earlier, as long as the basic design, engines and propulsion are kept intact.