Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian
Model of Fujian | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Type 003 Fujian |
| Builders | Jiangnan Shipyard |
| Operators | People's Liberation Army Navy |
| Preceded by | Type 002 Shandong |
| Succeeded by | Type 004 |
| Building | 1 |
| History | |
| China | |
| Name |
|
| Namesake | Fujian province |
| Builder | Jiangnan Shipyard |
| Laid down | March 2015 – February 2016 |
| Launched | 17 June 2022 |
| Motto | (Simplified Chinese: 不忘初心、牢记使命)：Never forget the original aspiration, remember the founding mission |
| Status | sea trials |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Type 003 aircraft carrier |
| Displacement | Full load: 80,000–85,000 t (79,000–84,000 long tons) |
| Length | 316 m (1,036 ft 9 in) |
| Beam | 76 m (249 ft 4 in) |
| Propulsion | Steam turbines |
| Aircraft carried | 50+ |
| Aviation facilities | Hangar deck |
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Fujian (18; Chinese: 福建舰; pinyin: Fújiàn Jiàn) is a Chinese aircraft carrier serving in the People's Liberation Army Navy. It is the third aircraft carrier of the Chinese aircraft carrier programme and the first of the Type 003 class (NATO/OSD Fujian class). It succeeds the Type 002 Shandong which is described as a modified Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier. It is China's first indigenously designed carrier, and its first capable of catapult-assisted take-offs (CATOBAR); previous Chinese carriers used ski-jumps (STOBAR).
Fujian was built by the Jiangnan Shipyard for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), launched on 17 June 2022, and started sea trials in May 2024. In 2019, analyst Robert Farley believed that Fujian would be the "largest and most advanced aircraft carrier ever built outside the United States".