TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China began sea trials on Wednesday (May 1) for its third aircraft carrier and first with a fully indigenous design, the Type 003 Fujian.
The Fujian unmoored from a dock at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai at 8 a.m. and set sail for its first sea trials, according to China's state-run CCTV 13 News. Beijing bills the carrier as the second in the world to use an electromagnetic catapult system.
According to the report, this sea trial primarily aims to test and verify the reliability of the carrier's power and electrical systems. Since its launch in June 2022, the state-operated station claimed the construction of the Fujian has “steadily progressed according to plan,” completing mooring trials and equipment debugging, and possessing the technical capabilities to go to sea for trial runs.
Previously, the Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carriers spent five days on their maiden sea trials.
The Asia Times reported that the displacement of the Fujian exceeds 80,000 tons, which is larger than the approximately 60,000 and 65,000 tons of the Liaoning and Shandong. It is touted as the world's second aircraft carrier with a flight deck using an electromagnetic catapult system, following the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), which is in active service in the US Navy.
The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) used by the Fujian has the advantage of being able to shorten aircraft launch cycles and take up less space than traditional steam catapults. However, the USS Ford faced several problems getting the EMALS to function properly, and the engineers behind the Fujian reportedly encountered difficulties generating enough power for the original design and had to opt for a new system.