Context

China recently launched its third aircraft carrier, the country’s most advanced.

About

• China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was a refit of the Soviet-era ship commissioned in 2012, followed by the indigenously built 2nd aircraft carrier Shandong in 2019.
  • China plans to have around five aircraft carriers.
• The aircraft carrier named Fujian was launched at a brief ceremony held at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard.
• The Fujian is China’s first domestically designed and built catapult aircraft carrier.
  • The launch was delayed by two months due to the COVID lockdown of Shanghai.
• The third aircraft carrier built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited has a displacement of more than 80,000 tonnes and is equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices.
• The Fujian, which is the “first fully domestically developed and constructed” aircraft carrier with an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), has a flat, straight flight deck and arresting device.
  • It has a full displacement of more than 80,000 tonnes, as much as 20,000 tonnes more than the other two aircraft carriers.
  • Fujian is the name of China’s eastern coastal province of Fujian.