He China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has entered its last stage of preparations to enter service with its first official voyage scheduled for later this year. For this, the People’s Liberation Army has successfully carried out the mooring tests, according to the pro-Chinese newspaper The Global Times. The Fujian, the first Chinese aircraft carrier with electromagnetic catapult and manufactured entirely within the country, it displaces 80,000 tons of weight and aspires to compete with the capabilities of the United States aircraft carriers in the Indo-Pacific region.
In an interview, zhang chianqianthe ship’s captain, said, “As sailors on China’s first aircraft carrier to be equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices, we aim to reach the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army as we are steadily improving integral our training and preparation for combat, so that we are ready at all times to fight and win”.
Chinese analysts consulted by the aforementioned media assure that auxiliary power systems have also been tested, whose function is to provide electricity for some subsystems. It is probably part of the carrier’s mooring tests, said Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator. The mooring tests they usually also include testing of pipelines for liquids and gases, Song said.
The Chinese military launched the Fujian in June last year after receiving approval from the Central Military Commission, the country’s highest-ranking military body. In the next phase, the Fujian will be able to begin sea trials, where the behavior of the propulsion, communications and navigation systems will be analysed. The Chinese military high command aims to carry out tests and trials at sea during this year so that it can enter service soon.
In December 2019, China launched in the island province of Hainan (south) its second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, the first domestic manufacturing, since the only one that the Navy of the Asian country previously had, the Liaoningis a former Soviet ship that was refitted in 2012. Liaoning is undergoing routine maintenance, while Shandong is ready for offshore operations after obtaining its combat training certificate last year.
The Chinese navy is undergoing constant modernization with the production of new destroyers and submarines deployed in recent years in the South China Sea, where Beijing rivals the United States, which regularly sends warships to ensure free transit through this maritime region whose sovereignty China claims in its entirety, despite the fact that the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in 2016 against Beijing in the dispute that this country maintains with its neighbors over the islands known as Spratley or Paracelso (Nansha, in Chinese). The court ruling defended that Beijing cannot claim any exclusive economic interest in its waters either.
In Washington, the news of the launching of the Fujian generated some nervousness. Historically Only the US has ever had a truly carrier-centric navy.a position that could be threatened in the future when China develops up to six aircraft carriers, according to observer estimates.
Currently, the Chinese naval power is already more numerous than the American one, according to the calculations of the Pentagon. However, experts believe that there are more important factors than the number of ships, such as a country’s tactics, experience, training and naval tradition. As specialist Michael Pek writes, “If sheer tonnage were the only criteria for an effective fleet, the UK’s Royal Navy would never have achieved maritime dominance for centuries.”
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