On the morning of December 13, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, Director General of the Information Office of the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and Spokesperson for the MND, released a message on recent military-related issues.
Reporter: According to an announcement by the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration, traffic control was imposed on the import of a large ship deep-water channel at the mouth of the Yangtze River in early December. Some analysts believe that the CNS Fujian may have returned to its home port after completing its 5th sea trial. Can this be confirmed?
Wu Qian: It is a regular arrangement in the construction process for Aircraft Carrier Fujian to carry out relevant tests. The next step will be to gradually carry out subsequent test programs in accordance with the progress of vessel construction.
The gigantic vessel will displace more than 80,000 metric tons of water. It will be the largest and mightiest warship any Asian nation has ever built, as well as the world’s biggest non-American aircraft carrier.
The ship will use an electromagnetic launch system, or electromagnetic catapult, to launch fixed-wing aircraft. This new system will give the carrier a much greater combat capability than its two predecessors, which use a ramp to launch jets.
Currently, the Navy operates two aircraft carriers — the CNS Liaoning and the CNS Shandong. Both with a standard displacement of around 50,000 tons and a conventional propulsion system, and they use a ski jump method for launching fixed-wing aircraft. Compared with its two predecessors, the Fujian is much bigger and heavier, and has a larger flight deck and smaller superstructure.
CNS Fujian was launched in June 2022, since then, the construction work has been progressing steadily as planned, and the mooring test and equipment commissioning have been successfully completed. The first sailing test was opened on May 1, 2024. During the trial voyage, CNS Fujian completed a series of tests on power, electric power and other system equipment, and achieved the expected results. Next, the ship will carry out the subsequent test work as scheduled.