China’s newest aircraft carrier appears to sport mock-up warplanes, according to new images posted to social media by a longtime China watcher.
This is a major milestone for Fujian, as the People’s Liberation Army Navy seeks to put its largest and most advanced aircraft carrier through sea trials and move it closer to being ready for operations.
Images of the Fujian, also identified as Type 003, docked in Shanghai were published on X this week. On Tuesday, Andreas Rupprecht, a Chinese aviation observer and researcher, also shared the images, discussing their significance. The Fujian mockups were first reported by The War Zone.
A closer look at the cockpit revealed that Fujian currently hosts five mock-ups: one KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft, two fourth-generation J-15 carrier-based fighters, one fifth-generation J-35 fighter , and a JL-10J advanced jet trainer and a light combat aircraft.
The models appear to simulate where the plane would be on the deck of the aircraft carrier. The images also show the Fujian’s catapult system, designed to launch aircraft much like the US Navy’s aircraft carriers. The Fujian is the first Chinese carrier to have this technology, with previous carriers having launched aircraft with ski jumps and ascending ramps at the end of the deck. The other two Chinese carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong, both have ski jumps.
Last January, Chinese state media showed aerial footage from Fujian showing three catapult tracks and a model airplane. Catapult launch systems are much more efficient than ski jumps, easing the strain on the aircraft during takeoff and allowing the launch of larger fixed-wing aircraft with heavier payloads and more fuel .
The Chinese carrier relies on conventional power, as opposed to nuclear like U.S. carriers, and steam turbines, but the ship’s catapults are electromagnetic, like those on the U.S. Navy’s new Ford-class aircraft carriers.
The Fujian catapults constitute a notable technological advance. The Defense Ministry said in 2019 in its annual report on China’s military power that “the aircraft carrier’s design will enable it to support additional combat aircraft, fixed-wing early warning aircraft and faster flight operations.”
Ahead of the aircraft carrier’s launch, experts said the ship would “significantly improve China’s naval capabilities.” These features allow the Chinese Navy to exploit the full potential of the heavy J-15 and launch assets such as early warning aircraft for better combat situational awareness..
CHINESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER, JIANGNAN SHIPYARDS, CHINA, JUNE 18, 2022: Maxar satellite imagery close-up view of the aircraft carrier CV 18 Fujian, Shanghai, China. Satellite image (c) 2022 Maxar Technologies
The new images from Fujian come as the aircraft carrier, China’s third and by far most advanced PLAN, is expected to conduct its first sea trials this year. Previous satellite images have documented considerable progress on Fujian.
Fujian represents a major improvement in China’s naval capability. Named after the Chinese province closest to Taiwan, the carrier was officially launched in June 2022. Construction began in 2018. It is still a conventionally powered carrier, but observers suspect that the PLAN will develop nuclear-powered carriers in the future.
The Fujian is larger than its predecessors — probably the size of America’s older Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carriers, wrote Matthew P. Funaiole, Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Brian Hart for the Center for Strategic and Strategic think tank. International Studies in June. 2021.
“When the Type 003 enters service, it will be a formidable addition to the Chinese Navy and enable it to project power more effectively in the Indian and Pacific Oceans,” they said at the time.
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