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3w ago

China Commissions Fujian, Its Most Advanced Carrier With Electromagnetic Catapults

Beijing’s third carrier enters the fleet to extend the navy’s reach beyond coastal waters.

China's third aircraft carrier, CNS Fujian, holds a commissioning and flag-presenting ceremony at a naval port in Sanya, Hainan province, on November 5, 2025.
The CV-18 Fujian seen during the commissioning ceremony, showing the newly painted ‘18’ on its deck. (Image credit: CCTV)
Image
Aircraft carrier Fujian at her commissioning ceremony on November 5, 2025 in Sanya, together with carrier Shandong and a Type 075 LHD in the background. Image Chinese state media.

Overview

  • A ceremony at Sanya on Hainan Island formally accepted Fujian into the PLAN, with Xi Jinping presiding and inspecting the ship.
  • The carrier uses EMALS in a CATOBAR configuration, and state media say trials included J-35 stealth fighters, J-15 variants and the KJ-600 early-warning aircraft performing catapult launches and arrested landings.
  • Displacing over 80,000 tons and designed domestically, Fujian is conventionally powered, which constrains endurance compared with U.S. nuclear carriers.
  • Former U.S. carrier officers caution that flight-deck layout and integration issues could cap air operations at roughly 60% of a Nimitz-class carrier’s rate.
  • Japan signaled close monitoring of China’s expanding naval reach, and separate reports indicate work on a larger Type 004 carrier that could employ EMALS and potentially nuclear propulsion.