Japan’s navy spots newest Chinese aircraft carrier sailing for first time in East China Sea

Fujian is larger than China’s other two carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, and features significant improvements over either.

The carrier can carry up to 70 aircraft and sail at a top speed of 30 knots, according to the 2025 white paper from Japan’s Ministry of Defense. It is believed to be equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system capable of launching fixed-wing early warning aircraft, according to the white paper.

The system is like the one aboard the United States’ newest carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, according to an analysis published in 2024 by Mike Sweeney, a nonresident fellow at Defense Priorities, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

Read at Stars and Stripes

Author

Mike
Sweeney

Non-Resident Fellow

Defense Priorities