The China State Shipbuilding Corporation launched the Fujian aircraft carrier with a launch catapult to launch aircraft. This ship was the first Chinese aircraft carrier designed and built from scratch.
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The launching and naming ceremony took place on June 17 at the Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai. The ship was named after the province of the same name.
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It is noted that “Fujian” received an electromagnetic catapult developed in China for launching aircraft. It is known that the catapult is also used on American aircraft carriers such as Gerald R. Ford.
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The displacement of the aircraft carrier “Fujian” is more than 80 thousand tons. The ship’s air wing may include J-35 fighters and carrier-based early warning aircraft KJ-600. J-15T fighters and J-15D electronic warfare aircraft will also be able to take off from the deck of the ship.
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Fujian became China’s third aircraft carrier. The first ship of this type was the aircraft-carrying cruiser “Varyag” of project 1143.6. In 1998, China bought an unfinished ship, which was completed and renamed the Liaoning. In 2017, the first China-built aircraft carrier Shandong was launched. “Liaoning” and “Shandong” received decks with a springboard, which allows aircraft to take off with a shortened takeoff run.
