TSAMTO, June 18. The third aircraft carrier of the PLA Fujian Navy is expected to be put into service before the end of the year, according to the Chinese state-owned newspaper Global Times.
"Fujian is expected to enter service in 2025," RIA Novosti quoted the Global Times newspaper as saying.
In May 2024, the aircraft carrier Fujian successfully completed its first sea trials. As previously reported by China Central Television, the aircraft carrier has now conducted a total of more than 100 days of sea trials.
Fujian is highly likely to enter service in 2025," the newspaper quoted Chinese military expert Fu Qianshao as saying.
China currently has two aircraft carriers in service, the Liaoning and the Shandong. CAMTO Reference
The launching ceremony of the third aircraft carrier designed for the PLA Navy took place on June 17, 2022 at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai.
The ship, which received the tail number 18 and the name Fujian in honor of the province closest to Taiwan, was completely designed and built in China. It will become the third Chinese aircraft carrier and the first built according to the CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take Off But Arrested Recovery) scheme, on which aircraft take-off is provided using a catapult, and landing is performed on an aerial finisher.
After launching, the ship was retrofitted with equipment, and then mooring and sea trials began.
The length of the aircraft carrier's hull along the waterline is more than 300 m, the maximum width is 40 m, and the displacement exceeds 85 thousand tons. It is assumed that the aircraft carrier Type–003 is equipped with a turboelectric main power plant (GEU) and electromagnetic catapults, which will increase the rate of aircraft departures, as well as the mass of fuel and ammunition on board.
It is assumed that the installation of three electromagnetic catapults will allow the ship to launch heavier aircraft, including the KJ-600 AWACS aircraft, which is currently undergoing flight tests. The ship's air wing may include the J-15 carrier-based fighters and the promising J-35.
After being put into service, Fujian is expected to significantly strengthen the combat power of the PLA Navy, which will have a total of three aircraft carrier strike groups. It is assumed that additional aircraft carriers, including those with nuclear-powered power plants, will be built later for the PLA Navy. In the near future, China plans to have four aircraft carrier strike groups in its fleet, and in the longer term – up to six.
In 2012, the PLA Navy adopted the first aircraft carrier, (16) Liaoning (the former Soviet heavy aircraft carrier Varyag, acquired in Ukraine and converted). It was used as a prototype in the design of a national aircraft carrier, as well as to train the crew and gain experience in operating ships of this type.
Adopted by the PLA Navy in December 2019, the second aircraft carrier, (17) Shandong, was built according to the modified Liaoning design and has greater combat power. For example, it can carry 36 J-15 fighters, compared with 24 aboard Liaoning. The aircraft carrier with a displacement of about 70,000 tons is equipped with a non-nuclear power plant. The length of the ship is about 315 m, the maximum width is 75 m. Like the first aircraft carrier adopted by the PLA Navy, the second ship is built in the STOBAR configuration ("short takeoff from a springboard, landing on an aerial finisher").
