China’s Fujian aircraft carrier completes first catapult-assisted flights PHOTO

China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier with electromagnetic catapults, the Fujian, has successfully conducted its first catapult-assisted takeoffs and arrested landings for the J-15T heavy fighter, J-35 stealth fighter, and KJ-600 early warning aircraft, the PLA Navy announced on September 22.

Experts described the milestone as a major step in China’s emergence as a global aircraft carrier power, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The successful operations mark the Fujian’s achievement of initial full-deck operational capability and demonstrate the compatibility of China’s independently developed electromagnetic catapult and arresting system with multiple carrier-based aircraft. This sets the foundation for integrating diverse aircraft into a comprehensive carrier air wing.

The J-35 represents China’s entry into fifth-generation carrier-based fighters, making the PLA Navy the second globally, after the U.S., to deploy such aircraft at sea. Combined with the J-15T’s heavy strike capacity, the carrier air wing significantly enhances China’s far-seas combat capabilities. The KJ-600 serves as an airborne early warning system, providing higher altitude, longer-range detection, and improved command-and-control capabilities compared with shipborne radars or helicopters.

According to experts, the Fujian now possesses a complete “five-piece suite”—air superiority, sea and land strike, reconnaissance and early warning, electronic warfare, and anti-submarine capabilities—making it more advanced than China’s earlier carriers, the Shandong and Liaoning.

Since its first sea trial in May 2024, the Fujian has successfully tested and calibrated multiple systems, signalling that commissioning is imminent. Analysts believe that upon delivery, the PLA Navy will enter the era of three operational aircraft carriers, enhancing China’s far-seas defense capabilities and strengthening its strategic deterrence.

Wang Ya’nan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge, highlighted that the Fujian could field the world’s most capable carrier-based aviation force, with the J-35 as the core of its balanced and highly capable air wing.

By Vugar Khalilov