PLA Navy’s third aircraft carrier ship successfully completes maiden voyage

[Courtesy China Daily] An aerial drone photo taken on May 1, shows China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, during its maiden sea trials. China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, returned to Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard at around 3 pm yesterday after completing its maiden sea trials

The CNS Fujian, China’s third aircraft carrier, finished its maiden sea trial and returned to the shipyard yesterday afternoon, according to the People’s Liberation Army Navy.

The PLA Navy said in a brief news release that during the eight-day debut voyage that started on May 1, engineers and Navy sailors tested the vast vessel’s propulsion and electric power systems, and have achieved their goals.

Now, the Fujian has returned and berthed at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, a subsidiary of the State-owned conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corp.

Next, hardware and software tests will take place on the carrier in accordance with construction plan, the Navy said.

According to the PLA Navy, the new vessel had successfully completed its mooring tests and equipment installation process before the first sea trial.

As one of the most important pieces of military hardware China is working on, the Fujian was officially unveiled in June 2022 in Shanghai as it was towed out of China State Shipbuilding Corp’s Jiangnan Shipyard.

When sailing, the gigantic vessel will displace more than 80,000 metric tons of water. It will be the largest and mightiest warship any Asian nation has ever built, as well as the world’s biggest non-American aircraft carrier.

The ship will use an electromagnetic launch system, or electromagnetic catapult, to launch fixed-wing aircraft. This new system will give the carrier a much greater combat capability than its two predecessors, which use a ramp to launch jets.

Currently, the Navy operates two aircraft carriers — the CNS Liaoning and the CNS Shandong. Both with a standard displacement of around 50,000 tons and a conventional propulsion system, and they use a ski jump method for launching fixed-wing aircraft.

Compared with its two predecessors, the Fujian is much bigger and heavier, and has a larger flight deck and smaller superstructure.

The Liaoning underwent 10 sea trials before going into service, and the Shandong conducted nine before its commissioning. ZHAO LEI, China Daily, MDT/China Daily