The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commissioned its newest aircraft carrier into service during a ceremony on Wednesday, November 5.
The commissioning ceremony of Fujian was held in Sanya, Hainan, with President Xi Jinping as guest of honour.
Honouring the province of the same name, Fujian is the PLAN’s third aircraft carrier after Liaoning and Shandong.
However, unlike the two earlier ships, Fujian was designed and built locally, whereas Liaoning is the ex-Soviet Navy carrier Varyag while Shandong, despite having been built in China, had adopted a design based on that of the Russian Navy’s flagship Admiral Kuznetsov.
The newer carrier has a conventional flat flight deck without a ski jump at the bow to assist aircraft launches. The flight deck is instead fitted with three electromagnetic aircraft launch system catapults similar to those on the US Navy's Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
Fujian measures 316 metres long and 76 metres wide and displaces about 80,000 tonnes at full load. Propulsion is by gas turbines linked to generators that provide power to electric motors.
The air wing includes 50 aircraft including J-15 and J-35 fighter-bombers, KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and Z-20 utility and anti-submarine helicopters.
Construction of Fujian was undertaken at the Shanghai facilities of China State Shipbuilding Corporation subsidiary Jiangnan Shipyard.