China launched its third aircraft carrier at a shipyard in Shanghai this Friday during a “brief but celebratory” ceremony, according to the Chinese nationalist daily Global Times. It’s called Fujian and is the first building designed and built entirely in China. In contrast to the other two ships already in service, Liaoning and Shandong.
While this Friday’s ceremony is an important step, it does not mean a quick entry into service within the Chinese Navy. Neither the authorities nor the Chinese media, which broadcast the ceremony, have indicated the planned date for Fujian to enter service. It will begin a series of sea trials and still needs to receive a lot of equipment and interior and exterior finishes. It will therefore only be operational in a few years. The comparison is incorrect, but 32 months had passed between the launch and the entry into service of the Liaoning aircraft carrier.
Overview of the main features of this exceptional building.
1. It is the first all-Chinese aircraft carrier
Fujian is a source of pride for Beijing in more ways than one. First of all, it is the first-ever aircraft carrier designed and manufactured entirely in China, unlike the two already in service with the Chinese Navy.
Liaoning, commissioned in 2012, is actually a second-hand building. It was built for the Soviet Navy (then named Varyag) and bought by Ukraine in 1998. Launched in 2017 and entering service in late 2019, the Shandong was certainly built entirely by China, but its design remains largely based on the Varyag model.
2. It’s bigger and more advanced
Another source of pride is that Fujian is currently the largest: 320m long and 78m wide, totaling more than 80,000 tons versus 70,000 for Shandong and 60,000 for Liaoning. For comparison, France’s Charles-de-Gaulle totals 42,500 tons and its successor, whose construction is scheduled to begin in 2025, is expected to reach 75,000 tons. However, this lags behind the 100,000-ton Gerald Ford of the US Navy.
The Fujian with integrated electric propulsion has cutting-edge technological equipment that allows it to compete with the aircraft carriers of the United States. In particular, it has an electromagnetic catapult system. It is more modern than the traditional steam system and can power heavier aircraft. This technology, developed by the United States since the early 2010s, equips certain US Navy buildings. The other two Chinese aircraft carriers in service do not have catapult systems. This explains the curved shape of their pontoons, which act as a launch pad. The Fujian is also equipped with an integrated electric propulsion system, which has the advantage of making the ship less noisy and therefore less detectable.
3. His name is not trivial
The new Chinese aircraft carrier takes its name from the Fujian province, which lies directly across from Taiwan, which is a key focus of diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Washington. A choice that is undoubtedly anything but trivial from a political and diplomatic point of view.
However, Beijing has gotten used to naming its aircraft carriers after the country’s provinces. The first of its buildings, purchased from Ukraine and commissioned in 2012, was named Liaoning, after a province in northeast China bordering North Korea. The second is called Shandong, a province in the east of the country.
4. The launch has been postponed several times
If Friday’s ceremony was to be glamorous, the Chinese Navy would have to be patient. Fujian’s dosing has actually been pushed back multiple times. Originally and highly symbolic, it was to be held on April 23 to mark the celebrations of the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Navy. But the Covid then played spoilsport and the confinement of Shanghai and its region forced his cancellation.
The ceremony was then postponed to June 3, a day that coincides with the Dragon Boat Festival, an important holiday in China (but also in other Asian countries) and which has nationalist tinges: it commemorates in particular the death of Qu Yuan, a Chinese poet who committed suicide by drowning after the defeat of his native country. Again, the Fujian launch ceremony was postponed with no explanation given.
5. It will be followed by other aircraft carriers
Fujian is just one step in Beijing’s efforts to acquire a fleet of modern aircraft carriers. China wants to have six buildings by 2035.
Work on China’s fourth aircraft carrier began in 2021 at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. Unlike the three predecessors, including the “Fujian”, this new warship will be equipped with a nuclear propulsion system.