The Washington Post is frustrated and praises Fujian Ship: It has surpassed an entire generation of American aircraft carriers.

After the Fujian Ship was officially commissioned, CNN, a U.S. cable news network, once published an article titled as an interview with a naval expert, claiming that the comprehensive combat capability of the Fujian Ship could only match 60% of the U.S. Navy's main carrier. For this assertion, both domestic and foreign analysts criticized CNN's expert for having a sour grapes mentality.

Except for not using nuclear power and having less range than the Ford, all other performance parameters of the Fujian Ship are much better than the Ford. Another naval expert said that the performance of the electromagnetic catapult on the Fujian Ship in starting and stopping is beyond imagination, and they even once thought that China had made some tricks in the promotional video. After comparing the waves and flags in the video, and using reference objects, they finally had to admit that the video was real.

(Fujian Ship forming combat capability)

On November 20, The Washington Post published a new analysis article, which hit CNN in the face. This new report pointed out that the comprehensive performance of the Fujian Ship is no worse than the Ford, especially the electromagnetic catapult. It is one generation ahead of the Nimitz class, truly achieving the goals that the U.S. Navy wanted to reach. The jealousy and envy are clearly visible.

We must admit that Americans really understand aircraft carriers. The few details given in The Washington Post's report are rarely mentioned by other media.

The Washington Post pointed out that the benefit of the electromagnetic catapult is that it can adjust the catapult parameters according to the different types of aircraft being catapulted. For example, the takeoff speed required for catapulting the J-35 and the KJ-600 is different, but the KJ-600 is certainly heavier. Therefore, the speed and traction settings can be different. This is difficult to achieve with steam catapults.

Other countries cannot manufacture steam catapults or electromagnetic catapults, so they have no perception of this issue.

(The Washington Post believes that the Fujian Ship expands the activities of the Chinese Navy)

Electromagnetic catapults also have other advantages, such as effectively controlling the acceleration distribution during the catapult process. Unlike steam catapults, which have a very large acceleration at the beginning, the acceleration becomes smaller as the plane is about to leave the ship. During the landing process on the electromagnetic catapult, the resistance can also be controlled according to the optimized plan.

This setup can avoid the aircraft carrying too much overload at once, which is very beneficial for extending the structural life. This is something that only the U.S. Navy, which has used both devices, can experience. Even the Chinese Navy will not have the opportunity to compare steam catapults and electromagnetic catapults anymore.

The Washington Post pointed out that the amount of overload the plane experiences in the two moments mentioned above is also the same as what the pilot experiences. Avoiding sudden high overload is beneficial for the carrier aircraft, of course, and also beneficial for the pilot's health and safety, especially for protecting the pilot's neck. It seems that the U.S. Navy aviation forces have long-term experience on this issue.

The neck is one of the more vulnerable parts of the human body, and pilots also have to wear helmets weighing several kilograms. If the acceleration during takeoff and landing is too high, the load that the neck has to bear is indeed painful. This problem is something that other countries using ski-jump carriers cannot understand.

(The highlights of the Fujian Ship given by The Washington Post)

The Washington Post's long article praising the electromagnetic catapult of the Fujian Ship is not only to justify the Fujian Ship, but also to refute Trump's statement and protect the U.S. Navy's electromagnetic catapult.

Trump publicly stated on October 28 that he prefers steam catapults on aircraft carriers. According to his statement, a carrier that is smoking with steam is a good carrier.

However, professionals know that this statement is to cover up the poor performance of the electromagnetic catapult on the Ford-class carrier. And because the United States has been subject to a ban on rare earth magnets from China, it has already become difficult to compensate for this defect.

There must be a group of people within the United States who support continuing to use electromagnetic catapults, even if there are difficulties in the supply of rare earth magnets, and should not go back in history. The success of the Fujian Ship became their basis.

In fact, the views of the electromagnetic catapult advocates are correct, but there is a thick technical obstacle in front of them. The electromagnetic catapult on the Ford-class carrier is unable to catapult the relatively heavy F-35C carrier-based aircraft, severely limiting the ability of the carrier air wing to upgrade and replace. That is why The Washington Post strongly praised the electromagnetic catapult and arresting system of the Fujian Ship.

Their subtext is that the U.S. Navy should also try to improve the electromagnetic catapult system to a satisfactory level. Whether they can persuade the upper echelons of the navy and Trump depends on the struggle in the next two years.

(The American concept of the Fujian Ship deck operations)

The article by The Washington Post also proves from another side that only China and the United States have the qualification to discuss maritime supremacy in today's world. Without air superiority, there is no maritime supremacy, and the realization of long-range maritime supremacy can only rely on aircraft carriers.

Heavy aircraft carriers like the Ford or the Fujian can carry a complete air wing to perform combat missions, and the forces they can project are even stronger than the entire air force of many small and medium-sized countries.

The weapons and fuel that carrier-based aircraft can carry with catapult takeoff are incomparable to those of the ski-jump carriers like the Elizabeth class. Japan's several light carriers are even less impressive.

The Chinese Navy and shipbuilding industry have achieved this historic leap in over 70 years. This is a miracle that can be called in any historical period.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7575380437854323215/

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