Fujian Ship's catapult footage has secrets, with all the crew wearing thick winter clothes, indicating that the video is at least six months old. From this, it can be inferred that the overall progress of the ship far exceeds public expectations. This 80,000-ton giant ship is sprinting toward commissioning at an unprecedented speed.

On September 22, the Chinese official announced that the J-15T, J-35, and KJ-600 advanced carrier-based aircraft successfully completed their first electromagnetic catapult takeoff and arrested landing training on the "Fujian" ship.

This news is heartening, but after in-depth analysis, it can be seen that this is not a breakthrough that just happened, but rather a formal confirmation of already mature technology.

Half a year ago, the first catapult was completed: March Bohai test reveals the "fast" progress

In fact, the first carrier-based aircraft electromagnetic catapult test of the Fujian ship may have been completed as early as late March 2025 in the Bohai Sea area.

At that time, the ship was undergoing its seventh sea trial, and satellite images clearly captured its frequent high-speed navigation and intense maneuvers within the Bohai Bay, including large S-shaped sharp turns and straight-line sprints, with clear tracks, showing that the system stability had reached combat requirements.

More importantly, the special program "Cracking the Challenge" broadcast during the Army Day holiday revealed footage that did not show the moment of takeoff, but fully presented the process of the dispatch personnel entering their positions, the green-shirted catapult commander taking his position, pressing the button to start, and even the sound of the catapult, with details perfectly sealed, which is sufficient to prove that it had the catapult capability at that time.

The video released this time also provides evidence: the deck workers are wearing thick winter clothes, and the seawater has a yellow-green tone, which completely does not match the current clear blue characteristics of the South China Sea.

By comparison, March in the Bohai Sea is a cold spring, with low temperatures and high silt content, which matches the current scene. This "delayed half a year before official announcement" approach is the consistent style of China's military industry — no hype, no rushing, only disclosing when everything is absolutely safe and reliable.

Two years of outfitting, ten months of sea trials: The construction and testing speed of the Fujian ship shocked the world

The Fujian ship was launched in Shanghai in June 2022, and within less than two years, it completed the extremely complex outfitting and debugging work, including the electromagnetic catapult system (EMALS), integrated power propulsion system, full ship information network, new radar and electronic equipment, as well as the installation and debugging of a high-strength flight deck structure.

This progress far exceeded expectations, demonstrating the strong system integration capabilities of China's shipbuilding industry.

Since the first sea trial began in May 2024, the Fujian ship completed seven sea trials in just ten months, covering power, machinery, shock resistance, radar, communication, supply, and the most critical carrier aircraft takeoff and landing tests. By March 2025, multiple types of carrier aircraft achieved catapult takeoff and landing, completing the task in just ten months, with astonishing efficiency.

By comparison, the first ship of the U.S. Ford-class, the "Ford" (CVN-78), has had long-term failures in its electromagnetic catapult system since its launch in 2013 and its commissioning in 2017, leading to serious deficiencies in the sortie rate of carrier aircraft. It has now been 12 years, and the "Ford" still has not formed a routine deployment capability, with the entire aircraft carrier still in a "limited operational state," and is also unable to carry out electromagnetic catapult operations for F-35C carrier aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Fujian ship not only achieved the world's first electromagnetic catapult on a conventional power platform, but also completed the ship-aircraft integration test in an extremely short period of time, reflecting China's organizational and execution advantages in the field of high-end military engineering.

Countdown to the final test in the South China Sea: Commissioning is imminent, and the acceptance test has entered the final stage

Currently, the Fujian ship has completed its southward crossing through the Taiwan Strait and arrived at the activity area outside Hainan Island, conducting the last comprehensive test before commissioning. Western commercial satellite observations show that it is accompanied by several 052D destroyers, forming a standard formation configuration.

At the same time, the Shandong aircraft carrier, two 075-type amphibious assault ships, and three 071-type dock landing ships have gathered near the coastal areas of Hainan and Guangdong, with a total displacement approaching 300,000 tons, forming a rare maritime force cluster.

This move indicates that the Fujian ship is conducting coordination drills with its home port base and receiving the J-35, J-15T, and KJ-600 carrier aircraft groups that have been pre-transferred to land-based airports.

Referring to the process of the Shandong aircraft carrier's southward movement in November 2019 and its official commissioning in mid-December, it is highly likely that the Fujian ship will be officially delivered to the navy around National Day in 2025, at the latest by the end of October, becoming China's third commissioned aircraft carrier, marking China's full entry into the "three-carrier era."

Testing and Training Simultaneously: The Fujian Ship May Already Have Preliminary Combat Capability

Notably, the Fujian ship's sea trials are not a traditional "test and modify simultaneously" model, but rather a model where system testing is conducted while simultaneously advancing practical training such as carrier aircraft takeoffs and landings, deck scheduling, and command coordination.

After the seventh sea trial, the Fujian ship underwent a brief docking maintenance, completing equipment inspections and software upgrades, further enhancing the stability and compatibility of the ship's overall integrated systems.

After entering the South China Sea, the last sea trial focused more on long-range environmental adaptability, supply对接, formation communication, and escort coordination verification before deployment.

It can be said that this half-year was not only a technical verification period, but also a crucial period for the generation of combat effectiveness. The Fujian ship is steadily and efficiently moving towards full commissioning.

This "testing by combat" model allows the aircraft carrier to have already refined human-machine coordination and formation operation processes before its official commissioning. Therefore, it can be judged that when the Fujian ship is delivered to the navy, it is not starting from scratch to build combat capability, but already has preliminary combat capability.

With the Fujian ship being commissioned this year, it is expected to have the ability to deploy in a fleet around 2027, giving the Chinese Navy an unprecedented strategic projection and sea-air dominance advantage in the Western Pacific.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7553070971410809353/

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