Entered service in China for the Chinese People ‘s Liberation Army Navy its new aircraft carrier FujianChina’s largest warship and the country’s first to be equipped with electromagnetic catapults. The vehicle was launched on 17 June 2022 in Shanghai and – to date – it is the largest warship in the Chinese navy and the first of its kind produced entirely by Beijing.
The ship has a tonnage of over 80,000 tonsmeasures approx 315 meters long and can accommodate at least 40 fighters and an undisclosed number of helicopters. It has 8 boilers and 4 propeller shafts 76 meters wide. From a technical point of view, it is equipped with type catapults CATOBAR with recovery via cables, but above all Three electromagnetic catapults of type EMALS for launching aircraft. This is a rather advanced system based on carriages driven by an electromagnetic induction motor rather than using pistons. It is currently only present in the most advanced US aircraft carriers. What makes it interesting is its ability to reduce stress on airplanes, allowing better speed control and the possibility of taking off a greater quantity of aircraft. As for yours diet However, Fujian does not use nuclear engines, and this certainly makes it less performing in terms of autonomy compared to its US competitors given that – as also reported by the press agency Reuters – it is estimated that every Approximately 18.5 thousand kilometres it will be necessary to refuel.
As for the name, this is a tribute to theChinese region of the same name and during its construction – as stated by Captain Leng Guowei in an interview – were carried out 9 test phases at sea since 2024, which have allowed the launch of new versions of the stealth fighters J-35, of J-15T and of J-15D, as well as the early warning aircraft KJ-600 and the helicopters in the series Z-20.
There Fujianamong other things, is only the third aircraft carrier supplied to the Chinese Navy: the other two are the Liaoning and the Shandongboth smaller in size and which use classic ramps to take off.
