US EditionChina Commissions Fujian, Its First Domestically Designed Aircraft Carrier
The CNS Fujian features electromagnetic catapults enabling heavier aircraft and extended range, marking a key advance in China’s naval modernization and power projection.
- On Wednesday, China commissioned the Fujian at a Hainan Island ceremony attended by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, watched by more than 2,000 navy and carrier construction personnel; the Fujian is China’s third carrier, displacing 80,000 tons and fully domestically built.
- Beijing framed the commissioning as part of China’s military modernisation campaign targeting a fully modernised force by 2035 and to rival US influence in the Western Pacific.
- Launched in 2022, the Fujian began sea trials in 2024 and is conventionally powered, featuring three catapult positions and carrier-based aircraft including the J-35, J-15T, and KJ-600.
- On Chinese social media, the commissioning hashtag gained over 10 million views Friday, while Greg Poling said `Carriers are key to the Chinese leadership's vision of China as a great power with a blue-water navy.`
- China is already constructing a nuclear-powered follow-on, the Type 004, while Chinese shipyards enable faster builds despite having only three carriers compared to the US Navy's 11, and US nuclear-powered carriers maintain longer at-sea endurance.
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Over 300 meters long, Fujian embarks stealth fighters, radar planes and anti-som helicopters. By 2035 Beijing could have up to six aircraft carriers in the Pacific.
In particular, the Fujian is equipped with this technology, which is available only to the last aircraft carrier in the United States. A further demonstration of its ambitions as a superpower.
China commissions new aircraft carrier
China's third aircraft carrier entered service this week, state media said on Friday, marking a key milestone in President Xi Jinping's drive to modernise the military. The Fujian is equipped with an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) — something that previously only the USS Gerald R Ford possessed. The advanced take-off system allows the Chinese air force to deploy jets carrying larger payloads and more fuel. State news agency Xinhu…
China boasts a new milestone in its insatiable ambition in the race for naval supremacy: it has just put into service its third and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, a...
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