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China launched most modern aircraft carrier "Fujian"

Highlights:

  • Recently, on June 17, 2022 China launched its third aircraft carrier, named “Fujian” in a bid to extend the range of its navy in Indo-Pacific region.
  • Fujian aircraft carrier: A Fact File
  • The newly launched aircraft carrier is most advanced and first “fully domestically built” naval vessel.
  • It was launched at a brief ceremony, at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard.
  • It is the first domestically designed and built catapult aircraft carrier.
  • It has a flat, straight flight deck that has been equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices.
  • Launch of Fujian ship was delayed by two months, because of COVID-19 lockdown of Shanghai. Spacecraft was scheduled to be launched on April 23, 2022 to mark 73rd anniversary of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
  • The 3rd aircraft carrier has been built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited.
Features of the Fujian:
  • Fujian has a displacement of over 80,000 tonnes. 
  • It is equipped with arresting devices and electromagnetic catapults. It has been named after Fujian province of China.
  • Liaoning was the first aircraft carrier of China. 
  • It was a refit of Soviet-era ship commissioned in 2012. 
  • This launch was followed by indigenously built 2nd aircraft carrier named ‘Shandong’, which was launched in 2019. 
  • Liaoning and Shandong carriers have also been named after provinces in China.
  • China has planned to launch around five aircraft carriers. 
  • The next aircraft carrier that China has planned to build is likely to be nuclear-powered.
  • Chinese President Xi Jinping, has been carrying extensive military reforms including downsizing of Army, enhancing the role of Navy and Air Force, as China seeks a global expansion with military bases in Djibouti in Horn of Africa. 
  • It has already taken over Hambantota port of Sri Lanka for a 99-year lease. 
  • It has modernised Gwadar port in Pakistan. 
  • The country is also engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in South China Sea as well as East China Sea.