China Commissions Its Third Aircraft Carrier — Fujian

China has officially commissioned its first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier, named Fujian, after the coastal province facing Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait.

• The commissioning follows months of successful sea trials, marking a significant milestone in China’s naval modernisation drive.

Key Details:

• The Fujian is China’s third aircraft carrier, but the first to be completely domestically designed.
• It features a flat flight deck equipped with electromagnetic catapults (EMALS)—a cutting-edge technology also used by U.S. Navy carriers like the USS Gerald R. Ford.
• This makes the Fujian far more capable than China’s earlier carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, both of which are ski-jump (ramp) carriers based on older Russian designs.

Operational Capabilities:

• The electromagnetic launch system allows Fujian to deploy heavier, more advanced aircraft at a faster rate.
• It can carry a larger air wing, including:
  • The J-35 stealth fighter (carrier-based version)
  • The KJ-600 airborne early-warning aircraft
  • Variants of the J-15 fighter
• These additions significantly enhance the range, strike power, and surveillance capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

Strategic Significance:

• The commissioning of the Fujian underscores China’s ambition to become a blue-water navy, capable of power projection far beyond its shores.
• Its naming after Fujian province, directly facing Taiwan, is seen by analysts as symbolically assertive, aligning with Beijing’s growing military posture in the Taiwan Strait and the wider Indo-Pacific region.

Context:

• The Liaoning (commissioned in 2012) was China’s first carrier, a refitted Soviet vessel.
• The Shandong (commissioned in 2019) was the first domestically built carrier but still based on Liaoning’s design.
• The Fujian, by contrast, represents a technological leap, showing China’s growing self-reliance in advanced naval engineering.

Source: TH