China’s Fujian aircraft carrier set for ‘new-type’ planes
- The Chinese warship is the first non-American vessel to use an advanced electromagnetic catapult system for its warplanes
- The carrier could be used to launch fighters with folding wings, fixed-wing drones and early warning planes, according to state broadcaster CCTV
The carrier, the country’s most advanced so far, has yet to be commissioned but is expected to form a core part of China’s plans to become a blue-water navy whose forces can operate in the open ocean and far from its shores.
The Chinese navy currently operates two aircraft carriers. The Liaoning, modified from a Soviet Kuznetsov-class carrier, was commissioned in China in 2012.
Neither carrier features the Fujian’s signature catapult system, which allows planes to launch more frequently and carry more fuel and munitions.
Instead the planes taking off from the older carriers rely on a ski-jump ramp, which also limits the number of planes that can be kept on the flight deck.
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China launches the Fujian, the PLA Navy’s 3rd aircraft carrier
The CCTV programme, broadcast on the eve of the navy’s 74th anniversary, did not go into specifics about what “new-type” aircraft could be launched from the Fujian, but said they could include fighters with folding wings, fixed-wing drones and airborne early warning and control planes.