China's third aircraft carrier sails into South China Sea for tests

CNS Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier, has sailed into the South China Sea for tests and training operations, a military spokesperson said on Friday.

Senior Captain Leng Guowei, spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army Navy, said in a brief statement that the Fujian recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to its designated mission area in the South China Sea.

He said the cross-region operation is a regular arrangement in the carrier's construction project and is not aimed at any specific target. Leng did not elaborate on the schedule for the vessel.

It is the first time for the Fujian to operate in the South China Sea and marks the longest voyage the carrier has made so far.

Wu Peixin, a defense industry observer, said this is the Fujian's ninth sea trial and it is likely to check the carrier's performance in long-distance deployment and examine joint operation capability between the platform and its escort vessels.

"The fact that the Navy is sending the Fujian to waters far from its shipyard indicates that all of the installation and fine-tuning work on the ship has been finished, and also tells us that the carrier must have performed well in its previous sea trials," he said.

Wu said he believes carrier-borne fighter jets will be used during the latest trial.

"The Navy has published footage of its personnel conducting electromagnetic catapult launch tests on board the Fujian, which were successful. It has also declassified its new carrier-borne stealth jet. All of these mean that the planes designated for the new carrier are about to be deployed on it," he said.

The Fujian, one of China's most important pieces of military hardware, was officially unveiled in June 2022 in Shanghai as it was towed out of China State Shipbuilding Corp's Jiangnan Shipyard.

Since then, the vessel has undergone several sea trials and is nearly ready to be commissioned. It is the first Chinese carrier equipped with an electromagnetic catapult, the most critical component on a supercarrier as it is responsible for launching fighter jets.

At a parade last week in Beijing, the Navy unveiled almost all of the combat aircraft to be deployed on the new carrier, including the J-35 stealth fighter, the KJ-600 early-warning and control plane, and the J-15DT electronic warfare jet. The move indicated that all of the aviation elements for the Fujian have been readied.

The Navy currently operates two aircraft carriers — CNS Liaoning and CNS Shandong. Both have a standard displacement of around 50,000 metric tons, conventional propulsion systems, and use a ski jump method for launching fixed-wing aircraft.

The Liaoning underwent 10 sea trials before going into service, and the Shandong conducted nine before its commissioning.