By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
China’s latest aircraft carrier has just wrapped up its second sea trial, a 20-day test of a ship that appears to replicate the US Navy’s Ford-class carriers – with at least one major exception.
According to the Hong Kong news outlet Singtao Daily, the PLA Navy’s Fujian returned to Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai on June 11 after trials in the Yellow Sea. The carrier was said to have conducted expansive tests on its propulsion systems such as the ability to make sharp turns and sail in reverse.
There was speculation that the Fujian conducted the latest trial in the Yellow Sea for at least two reasons – the PLA Navy has a carrier-based aircraft training base in the region and the area is relatively closed off, meaning it would be hard for the US to conduct reconnaissance.
The Fujian is China’s third carrier, and it’s different in a number of ways from the previous two. Naval architects abandoned the ski-jump deck that China has used in the past, and instead adopted the flat-deck design seen on US carriers.
It has an electromagnetic air launch system which Western observers believe will be technologically advanced. Those used by the US Navy allow for smoother launches, which reduce the stress on airframes.
But its carrier air wing leaves something to be desired. Right now, China has no sea-launched fifth-generation stealth aircraft. While there are Chinese prototypes of an F-35C look-alike called the J-31, it’s not operational yet. That would leave China at a huge disadvantage in the event of a sea war with the US, whose carriers can deploy with more than 40 F-35Cs.
One Chinese military expert, Fu Qianshao, told China’s Global Times the Fujian’s sea trials appear to have been successful. The second trial was relatively lengthy, which indicates the ship carried out intensive tests with additional objectives in order to keep progressing quickly along to the road to being commissioned.
Earlier this year, the PLA Navy’s political commissar Yuan Huazhi said a fourth aircraft carrier will be unveiled soon. He said that occasion will answer the question as to whether it will be nuclear-powered. Analysts speaking to the Global Times are divided, with some saying China may continue to build conventionally-powered carriers like the Fujian because of the cost efficiency.
Beijing’s standard line has been that it’s not building carriers to compete with the US. Instead, the ships will be used to “safeguard national sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests.”
For now, having three carriers gives China more flexibility. It’s expected that the carriers will spend one third of the time in training, one third in maintenance and another third in deployment – meaning Beijing should always have one carrier at its disposal at all times.
