China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, set out on its first sea trial on Wednesday, state media has reported.
"At about 8 o'clock on May 1, China's third aircraft carrier Fujian unmoored from the dock of Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard and set sail for the relevant waters to conduct its first navigation test," Chinese communist outlet The Paper reported on Wednesday.
China's most advanced aircraft carrier will now go through extensive sea trials before being officially deployed.
"The sea trials will primarily test the reliability and stability of the aircraft carrier's propulsion and electrical systems," reported China's official news agency, Xinhua News Agency, on Wednesday.
The Fujian's sea trial coincides with heightened tensions in the South China Sea where the Chinese Coast Guard has continually clashed with the Philippines Coast Guard, near Second Thomas Shoal.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has envisioned transforming the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA Navy) into a blue water force that can project power well beyond the Chinese mainland.
On Tuesday, Shanghai's Maritime Safety Administration issued a traffic safety notification without specifying the sea trial of the Fujian, only mentioning a "large ship."
But the Chinese state media's sea trial news about the Fujian, also known as Type 003, coincided with the traffic safety notification, verifying details about the location of the trials.
According to the notification, the PLA Navy will carry out trials roughly 80 miles in the sea from Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard. The first test will be conducted between May 1 and May 9, according to Shanghai's Maritime Safety Administration.
The Fujian, China's second domestically built aircraft carrier, has been undergoing mooring trials at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai after officially launching in June 2022.
The Shandong, China's first home-built carrier, was officially launched in April 2017 and went through nine sea trials before being commissioned formally in December 2019, Hong Kong newspaper The Standard reported on Wednesday.
Beijing's original carrier is an upgraded 1988 Soviet-era craft called the Liaoning.
But the Fujian is considered China's most advanced warship, designed with new technologies that have skipped a generation or more.
Unlike its predecessors, it features an electromagnetic CATOBAR system (Catapult Assisted takeoff Barrier Arrested Recovery) capable of launching more advanced aircraft, more frequently.
This makes it the second in the world, after the U.S. Navy's USS Gerald R. Ford, to possess such technology. However, the Fujian, which has three launch tracks compared to the Ford's four, is powered by conventional diesel rather than nuclear, limiting its operational range and requiring more frequent refueling.
The Ford, is Washington's latest and most advanced aircraft carrier. It was launched in November 2013, handed over to the U.S. Navy in May 2017, and commissioned by former President Donald Trump in July 2017.
It went through a five-year period of sea trials beginning in 2017 and was deployed at sea for the first time in November 2022.
Beijing has been showcasing the Fujian through official images since January, underscoring its technological advancement in naval capabilities.
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Aadil Brar is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers international security, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian ... Read more
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