June 17, 2022 - Following my earlier intelligence report, China has now launched its third aircraft carrier, the domestically designed and built Fujian, an advanced Type 003 ship featuring a full-length flight deck with an electromagnetic catapult launch system that only the newest US supercarrier, the USS Ford possesses.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN’s) most modern aircraft carrier was launched from Jiangnan Shipyard near Shanghai on Friday (June 17, 2022) amid Champagne, ribbons and water cannons, state media reported.

The Fujian will join CNS Shandong, commissioned in late 2019, and CNS Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998, refitted domestically and commissioned in 2012.

The PLAN released a propaganda video commemorating the development of China’s carrier program over the past decade. The video referred to the Communist Party’s upcoming congress, in which Chinese leader Xi Jinping will likely secure a precedent-breaking third term as commander-in-chief.

China’s leader Xi Jinping is seeking to give the communist country the second most powerful navy in the world and eventually overtake the U.S. Navy. By the end of 2020, according to U.S. intelligence, the PLAN had 360 warships, numerically surpassing the 297 of the U.S. Navy.

According to China Central Television, CNS Fujian will displace about 80,000 tons, compared with about 100,000 tons for the U.S. Nimitz-class and Ford-class carriers. The carrier features a full-length flight deck with an electromagnetic catapult launch system.

Chinese Type-003 carrier compared to the US Navy's Ford Class

PLAN named the new carrier after the coastal province of Fujian, just across the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan and home to the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army.

The major change over its current carriers is in how aircraft will be launched.

The new ship is CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) while the first two are STOBAR (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery).

Like the Ford Class, the Type-003 is believed to use an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) instead of a steam catapult. This should promise a faster launch rate. This is a cutting edge technology which has reportedly been less reliable so far on the Ford Class, although things are improving.

Yet despite its challenges it is still seen as the way forward and we should not assume that the Chinese will have the same problems. For China it is pragmatic to go straight to EMALS and miss the steam catapult step.

The Type-003 has three catapults with two on the bow and one in a waist position. This is one fewer than the Ford Class which, like earlier American carriers with steam catapults, also has four.

Catapults, which are lacking on the current Chinese carriers, will allow new aircraft types to be carried. A new fixed-wing airborne early warning & control aircraft (AEW&C), the KJ-600, is expected to be aboard. This is, both in role and overall form, very similar to the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye.

Other new aircraft are expected to include a carrier version of the FC-31 stealth fighter. A full-size mock-up of this has recently appeared at a test site in Wuhan. This will be generally equivalent of the Ford Classes’ F-35C Lightning-II. It has twin engines however, and possibly a larger internal weapons bay.

AND FOURTH, EVEN LARGER, NUCLEAR CARRIER ON THE WAY…

Meanwhile, most reports show China building a 4th aircraft carrier that is indeed nuclear powered – known as the Type 004.

The Type 004 could generate enough electricity to power laser weapons and railguns currently under development. It is expected to be completed by the late 2020s, and up to four could be built.

After a two-year delay because of technical problems, construction work on the vessel resumed in early 2021.

According to Popular Science, a leak by the shipbuilder claims the new class, “will displace between ninety thousand and one hundred thousand tons and also have electromagnetically assisted launch system (EMALS) catapults. It'll likely carry a large air wing of J-15 fighters, J-31 stealth fighters, KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft, anti-submarine warfare helicopters, and stealth attack drones.”

Such specifications will make them the equal of U.S. carriers, at least on paper.

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BREAKING - China Launches Third Aircraft…