China has included the third aircraft carrier Fujian in its naval fleet. It is said to be the most modern warship equipped with an electromagnetic catapult, which helps fighter jets and other types of aircraft to fly. Chinese President Xi Jinping was also present at the secret ceremony organized on the occasion of Fujian’s inclusion in the Chinese Navy.

Fujian is equipped with an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), which is used only on the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. According to the news of South China Morning Post, US President Donald Trump said last week that he wants to abandon EMALS technology and go back to steam energy.

China is also building a fourth aircraft carrier

He described this advanced launch system as expensive, unreliable and difficult to repair. Although all three Chinese aircraft carriers are conventionally powered, recent reports state that China is reportedly building its fourth aircraft carrier in Dalian, which could be powered by nuclear energy to provide significantly more power to run advanced systems while increasing its capability and global reach.

China, last on the list of major countries to have aircraft carriers for its navy, currently has two aircraft carriers: Liaoning, a refit of a Soviet-era ship commissioned in 2012, and Shandong, an indigenous aircraft carrier due to be commissioned in 2019.

Fujian China’s largest aircraft carrier

Fujian was inducted after the army said carrier-based aircraft J-15T, J-35 and Kongjing-600 had successfully completed training on catapult-assisted take-off and arrested landing on its flat deck. All three aircraft carriers are conventionally operated. Fujian is the largest of these with a displacement of 80,000 tons.

Analysts say that with rising tensions with the US, China may build more aircraft carriers to operate in various global sea routes. According to China’s government news agency Xinhua, Xi Jinping was briefed about Fujian’s combat capabilities and the use of its advanced electromagnetic catapult. It was he who instructed the Navy to use EMALS technology.

Where can Fujian be deployed?

Jinping was briefed by the commanding officers and pilots about the technical and tactical performance of the aircraft and the benefits of the electromagnetic catapult. Apart from this, President Jinping visited the tower and took information about flight command, take-off and landing operations. With the operation of the third aircraft carrier, it is expected that the Chinese Navy can deploy it in the area around the Taiwan Strait and the disputed South China Sea.

China considers Taiwan a part of its mainland. It also claims most of the South China Sea. He claims the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

India’s tension may increase

With the Fujian operation, China can also expand the deployment of aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, areas near India, where its naval fleet is active. In this region, it has naval bases in Djibouti located in the Horn of Africa and Gwadar in Pakistan, apart from this it also has control over the commercial port Hambantota located in Sri Lanka.

According to a recent BBC report, China now has the world’s largest operational fleet, with 234 warships, while the US Navy has only 219. The Indian Navy, which operates aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya, is also moving into the region by inducting more naval ships to maintain its dominance in the Indian Ocean.

China is also making a new fighter jet

China is developing a new fighter aircraft that can operate from its carrier groups. Zhang Junshe, an expert on Chinese military affairs, told China’s state-owned Global Times that Fujian’s joining the navy marks achievements in the transformation of the PLA navy from coastal defense to far-sea defence.

Zhang said that Fujian’s joining the Navy will boost the PLA Navy’s capability along with three major changes. First, the use of electromagnetic catapult system, which enables aircraft to take off with full fuel and ammunition, thereby expanding the scope of combat and also enhancing attack capability.