PLAN Carrier Fujian Expected to Achieve Full Readiness This Year, Chinese State Media Says

Beijing’s newest and largest aircraft carrier is expected to achieve full operational readiness this year, Chinese state media reported when highlighting the rapid progress of the country’s carrier program and naval aviation developments.

Chinese military commentators expressed optimism that the Type 003 aircraft carrier Fujian (18) would achieve full operational capability within the year, state media Global Times reported earlier this month. The 80,000-ton super carrier is China’s first flattop to field a catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) system via an electromagnetic catapult, allowing Fujian to launch new aircraft types and support larger payloads.

The vessel is the third to join the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) growing carrier force and represents a significant leap for Beijing’s blue water naval capabilities. Prior to Fujian’s commissioning last year, the country’s naval aviation efforts were focused on the less capable 60,000-70,000-ton Type 001 Liaoning (16) and Type 002 Shandong (17) short take-off but arrested recovery aircraft carriers.

Since the commissioning of Liaoning in 2012 – the service’s first carrier – Chinese naval forces have continued to refine carrier operations. The ex-Soviet vessel was officially classified as a training ship for six years following its induction into the PLAN. It was not until the 2020s that Liaoning made its operational presence known around Japan, Taiwan and the Philippine Sea.

Compared to Liaoning’s long workup and training period, Shandong – China’s first domestically-built carrier derived from a modernized design of its predecessor – achieved initial operating capability within one year of its 2019 commissioning. Shandong has since appeared in numerous high-profile exercises and shows of force across the Western Pacific. In 2024, Liaoning and Shandong held the PLAN’s first joint carrier exercise in the South China Sea.

It is unclear whether the PLAN can expedite the qualifications necessary to certify Fujian within a year of its commissioning. The 80,000-ton super carrier was launched in 2023 and entered service last fall. However, the anticipation from Chinese state media aligns with the country’s broader naval buildup and increased flattop production.

“Fujian has moved through sea trials at a pace that suggests she could be close to or fully operational by the end of this year. CATOBAR represents a generational leap from anything the PLAN has done before, but the pace of trials suggests they’re prioritizing operationalizing the capability as soon as possible,” Ben Lewis, founder of PLATracker, an organization dedicated to monitoring Chinese military activity and development, told USNI News regarding the Type 003 carrier’s progress.

Lewis also highlighted the deployment of the fifth-generation J-35 fighters and KJ-600 airborne early warning and command aircraft from carriers like Fujian, claiming that their integration into PLAN carrier air wings will be “the real test” in getting China’s new CATOBAR carriers up to operational standards.

According to the Pentagon’s 2025 China military report, Washington expects Beijing to field nine carrier strike groups by 2035, a figure that effectively triples the PLAN’s existing force and puts China’s carrier force as a near peer contender to the U.S. Navy’s congressionally-mandated 11 vessel fleet.

Beijing is also working on fielding its first nuclear-powered flattop, dubbed the Type 004. The vessel, projected to be larger than the Type 003 and powered by nuclear reactors, is currently under construction at the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company.

“The challenge isn’t any single carrier – it’s the trajectory. If current build rates are sustained, the PLAN is on track for a nine-carrier force by 2035. For the U.S. and its partners, that fundamentally changes the problem,” Lewis said. “A carrier fleet of that size gives the PLAN the ability to fight a delay action against a U.S. intervention in a Taiwan contingency while maintaining pressure on Taiwan simultaneously.”