China has started the new year by warning Taiwan about the reunification of the island as an essential element of its policy, but also by demonstrating its military strength with the distribution of the first images of the new aircraft carrier made entirely in China, the Fujian Type 003 , which displaces and is equipped with a weight of 80,000 tons electromagnetic catapults and a powerful defense system. According to some Western observers, the Fujian – the communist navy's third aircraft carrier – is the most powerful after the American super warships Nimitz and Ford classes.
But beyond the new aircraft carrier, the Asian giant is taking accelerated steps to make its navy not only the largest in the world – which it already is – but also a more advanced and competitive one. It is not currently on par with the US Navy, whose fleet and naval budget is far larger, but the President Xi Jinping It was proposed that China would become the major naval power of the 21st century by 2050. Some reports claim so Chinese engineers are already able to design and implement naval units that are more technologically advanced than the current best Western ships.
China's People's Liberation Army will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2027, and according to analysis by some senior U.S. military officials, China could be ready to invade Taiwan by then. To achieve this, Beijing needs rapid and robust modernization and development of its fleet. In this sense, it shows a number of advances.
The new ones were recently photographed Chinese corvettes Type 056 and 056A -light frigates, according to the classification of the People's Liberation Army Navy. They displace two to three tons, are a hundred meters long and are armed with a 57mm cannon, similar to the Swedish Mk 3 Bofors.
Another link in the chain of the Chinese navy are the new ones Type 039C Yuan-class conventionally powered submarines and that Type 054B frigate, with integrated electric propulsion, which is expected to succeed the proven frigate 054A. Another important part of this development is the 052D destroyer, Of these, three of the five systems under construction have already been put into operation.
However, the big Chinese leap of late has been the aircraft carrier Fujian. Local media recently published images of the supership, which is almost finished and could soon begin its first voyage. In these images, the Fujian can be seen for the first time being towed by tugs not far from the dock. where it had been moored since its launch. A life-size model of a fighter jet can be seen at the tail of the aircraft carrier with its wings folded, according to the Global Times. Some observers believe it is a J-15 fighter jet, while others claim it is probably a J-15 fighter jet Next generation J-35 stealth fighter.
In recent weeks, the Navy has been carrying out the Tests of electromagnetic catapults, reports the Chinese newspaper “Global Times”. Chinese commentators assure that the ship remains capable Mooring test phase. One of the officers aboard the ship was quoted by China's CCTV television as saying that his country's navy was “working resolutely and we will strive to achieve combat readiness as soon as possible.”
The Fujian aircraft carrier features several new technologies compared to its predecessors, the Liaoning, which was purchased and modernized from Ukraine in 1998, and the Shandong, which entered service in 2019 with entirely Chinese manufacturing but a design based on the Liaoning .
The Asian giant has become the second largest country in the world by the number of aircraft carriers, behind only the United States, which has eleven superships, one of them Ford class and the rest the Nimitz class. Beijing is replacing the United Kingdom, which previously took second place for this type of ship.
Song Zhongping, A Chinese military expert and television commentator told the Global Times that numerous sea trials will be conducted in 2024 so that the Fujian can enter service and become operational as quickly as possible. Some experts believe it is plausible that Beijing could overtake the West in naval military technologies in a few years, with the exception of nuclear submarines.