China’s new Type 003 aircraft carrier with bunting on its desk ahead of the launch [Planet Labs PBC via AP Photo]
Published in AlJazeera, on June 17th, 2022,
The ship began construction in Shanghai in 2018 and is China’s first domestically-developed aircraft carrier.
China has officially launched its third aircraft carrier, naming the vessel the Fujian.
China’s state media said the country’s latest and most advanced warship was launched on Friday morning at the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) shipyard in Shanghai where it has been under construction since 2018.
Once the naming certificate had been handed to the Fujian’s commanding officer, the ribbon was cut to officiate the launch and the ship left the dock, the state-run Global Times said.
The Fujian is China’s first fully domestically developed aircraft carrier, and uses electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices to enable planes to take off and land on its deck, it added. The ship has a displacement of more than 80,000 tons, it added.
The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said earlier this week that the launch was imminent, sharing satellite imagery that showed the dry dock holding the Fujian had been flooded and pennant flags strung along the ship’s flight deck.