By John Mills

The Fujian, China’s third aircraft carrier is preparing for Sea Trials from its shipyard, Jiangnan, in Shanghai.  China’s first two carriers, the Liaoning (Aircraft Carrier 01) and the Shandong (Aircraft Carrier 02) are large ships, but use “ski-ramps” for take off and do not have arresting cables for landing.  This means their J-15 jet fighters must take off and land at much lower weights which limits their endurance, speed, and payload.

The Fujian is their first carrier with catapults and arresting gear (CATOBAR).  The Fujian is still smaller (about 80,000 tons) versus the larger Nimitz and Ford Class carriers of the U.S. Navy (over 100,000 tons) and only has three catapults versus four of the Nimitz/Ford.  The Fujian catapults are of a new kind – they are electro-magnetic like the Ford Class and likely appropriated from the Navy test site at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.

For several months, China has surged it’s first two carriers to demonstrate an ability to envelope Taiwan, a message of potential blockade.  But equipment breaks on ships and ships need regular maintenance.  To keep two carriers at sea for any amount of time, three to five carriers are needed.  Three may be enough though if the U.S. Navy is distracted and the Chinese move fast before America can respond.  It looks like China is accelerating the schedule to have the Fujian ready in the next few months.  A carrier number four is under construction by China – this one will be nuclear powered.

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