China's Advanced Carrier - FUJIAN
China's Fujian (Type 003) is its most advanced and largest aircraft carrier to date, notable as the world's largest conventionally powered warship and the first non-U.S. carrier to feature an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS). It was officially commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) on November 5, 2025.
Key Features and Specifications
- Displacement: The Fujian has a full-load displacement of approximately 80,000 to 85,000 tons, making it significantly larger than China's previous carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong.
- Propulsion: It is conventionally powered by steam turbines, unlike U.S. supercarriers which are nuclear-powered.
- Aviation Systems: The most significant technological leap is the adoption of a Catapult-Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) system, specifically three advanced EMALS catapults. This system is a major upgrade from the less capable "ski-jump" decks of its predecessors, allowing aircraft to take off with heavier fuel and weapons loads, and enabling the launch of larger support aircraft like the KJ-600 airborne early warning (AEW) plane.
- Air Wing: The carrier is expected to carry a diverse air wing of over 50 aircraft, including:
- Shenyang J-35 stealth fighters.
- Shenyang J-15T/DT multirole fighters.
- Xi'an KJ-600 AEW&C aircraft.
- Harbin Z-20 family helicopters.
- Status: After extensive sea trials that included successful live aircraft catapult launch and recovery tests in September 2025, the Fujian is now in active service.
Strategic Significance
The Fujian represents a major milestone in China's naval modernization, enhancing its capacity to project air power across the Indo-Pacific region and beyond its immediate shores. Its advanced technology narrows the capability gap with U.S. Navy carriers, though U.S. carriers are still larger, nuclear-powered, and have greater aircraft capacity. The commissioning of the Fujian gives China the world's second-largest aircraft carrier fleet, behind only the United States.
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