The country’s official media showed new photos of China’s most sophisticated aircraft carrier, which has next-gen launch tracks capable of launching a wider variety of aircraft off her deck.
The Fujian made its public debut in June 2022 and was completely Chinese-made.
Ships like the Shandong launched in 2019, and the Liaoning, which China purchased from Ukraine in 1998 and refurbished at home, are smaller and less technologically sophisticated than the aircraft carrier that has not yet had its first sea trials.
A smaller ship was shown towing the Fujian late on Tuesday on official television. The deck of the tow ship displayed all three tracks of the electro-magnetic catapult mechanism.
According to the state-controlled Chinese publication Global Times, the carrier began launch tests for its electromagnetic catapult technology in November.
The only other aircraft carrier in the world that will have the most advanced Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) is the Fujian, second only in status to the US Navy’s new Ford-class nuclear-powered carriers.
At a watershed moment in China’s military modernization, the country’s take on the EMALS will be more dependable and energy-efficient than its Shandong or Liaoning counterparts, and it can launch more aircraft types.
On many occasions, President Xi Jinping has emphasized the need for enhanced technical capabilities and combat preparedness during the 100th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) formation in 2027.
According to several high-ranking US military officials, that year might see China’s military annexation of Taiwan.
Taiwan has noted that China’s military operations in the Taiwan Strait and around the island, which is democratically controlled, continue even as the island prepares for its presidential and legislative elections on January 13.
The median line of the strait, an unofficial boundary that Beijing claims it does not recognize, has been crossed by Chinese fighter planes.
Drones and hypersonic weapons are only two examples of state-of-the-art military technology that Chinese academics have extensively documented in recent years. New technology may also allow smaller countries’ militaries to compete with considerable military powers; some observers have linked China’s fast-improving military capability to the country’s booming hi-tech economy.
Keeping one’s advantage in the electromagnetic spectrum battlefield is of paramount strategic importance, and the unveiling of this sophisticated electronic warfare weapon is a watershed moment in a world where electronic warfare is playing an ever-increasing role.
