After its recent fifth sea trial, China announced that the third aircraft carrier of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), the Fujian (CV-18), has successfully passed all the necessary tests before entering service. This progress, highlighted by the spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, also indicates that additional trials will be conducted as part of the next steps, depending on the construction progress of the carrier.
The Fujian (CV-18), an 80,000-ton aircraft carrier locally built at the Jiangnan shipyard and launched in 2022, has carried out various sea trials throughout this year to test systems, equipment, and more, as part of its path to becoming a member of the Chinese Navy’s fleet of aircraft carriers.
fIn this regard, in November, the Fujian embarked on its fifth sea trial accompanied by scaled models of a J-35 fighter jet and a KJ-600 carrier-based airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft on its flight deck. Experts interpreted this as a sign that these aircraft will likely form part of the future Carrier Air Wing.
Unlike its predecessors, the Liaoning and the Shandong, which rely on ski-jump ramps for aircraft launches, the Fujian is equipped with an electromagnetic catapult launch system. This technology, similar to the U.S. Navy’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), represents a significant advancement.
This type of system enables the Chinese Navy to achieve a certain level of competitiveness with its Western counterparts and offers a new projection of power that will allow operations far from its territorial waters. At the same time, it will also serve as a tool to assert its interests in disputed areas such as the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. With the Fujian, the Chinese Navy will have a total of three aircraft carriers to operate alternately in the Pacific and the Asian region.
It remains unclear how many more sea trials and tests the CV-18 will need to undergo. However, what is certain is that the Fujian is increasingly closer to entering service, an event expected to take place by late 2025 or 2026.
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