Footage of China’s Fujian aircraft carrier offers another look at advanced catapult
- State broadcaster CCTV shows the ship’s electromagnetic catapult launch system from the side of the vessel
- The ship is China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier
It is the second time in a month that footage of the catapult has been shown, signalling confidence in the carrier’s progress, observers said.
Cao Weidong, a military analyst, told the broadcaster that the ship’s mooring tests went “completely normally”.
The Fujian, launched in 2022 June, is the country’s third carrier and China’s first carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices, which allow planes to be launched more frequently.
It is not known when the Fujian will start sea trials to test her systems and components, but Captain Yin Hongxin said last month that the goal was to establish “combat capabilities” as soon as possible.
The USS Gerald R Ford is the only other aircraft carrier in the world equipped with electromagnetic catapults.
Launched in 2013, it took four years before the US ship was commissioned, and another five years to depart for her first deployment in 2022 after years of trials. Its Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System suffered a failure during her testing period in 2020.