The third aircraft carrier of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, the Fujian, holds a mooring test in Shanghai at an undisclosed date around the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. Photo: Screenshot from China Central Television

 
China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, is nearly complete and could make its maiden voyage soon, experts said on Wednesday, after the warship was briefly featured in a national media report on Tuesday that indicated smooth progress in its mooring tests.

"We […] are steadily making progress in mooring tests as planned," Captain Yin Hongxin said on the flight deck of the Fujian, Xinwen Lianbo, the prime time news broadcast of China Central Television (CCTV), reported on Tuesday.

In 2024, the goal is to establish combat capabilities as soon as possible and make strides toward achieving the centennial goal of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 2027 as scheduled, Yin said.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday that Yin's remarks showed that the Fujian remains in the mooring trial phase for the time being but is holding intensive tests.

There will likely be multiple sea trials planned for 2024, so the Fujian can enter service and reach operational capability as soon as possible, Song said.

A short clip played during the CCTV report showed the carrier being towed by tugboats not far away from the quay, marking its exit from the location where it had been moored since its launch.

Citing an analysis of commercial satellite imagery, US media thedrive.com reported on Tuesday that the vessel was then transferred to a dry dock in a possible move to work out known issues and ensure the upcoming sea trials have the best possible shot at success.

From the CCTV report, observers said that the flight deck of the Fujian seemed clean, and the three work sheds that used to cover the three electromagnetic catapults when the ship was launched have been removed.

With its wings folded up, a full-sized mock-up of a fighter jet can be seen at the rear of the aircraft carrier.

Since the fighter jet mock-up was relatively far away from the camera and due to the limited definition of the clip, observers could not strike an agreement on its type, with some saying that it likely represents a J-15 fighter jet, while others saying that it likely represents a next-generation stealth fighter jet allegedly called the J-35.

Song said that the appearance of an aircraft mock-up on the flight deck of the Fujian means that the mooring trials tested the scheduling of aircraft on the flight deck, including loading and unloading as well as moving and positioning.

The CCTV report came after media reported in November that the Fujian had conducted launch testing of its electromagnetic catapult system at the time.

Some observers had predicted that the Fujian could hold its first voyage test within 2023, but that did not come into reality.

Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation expert, told the Global Times that the Fujian is equipped with many new technologies, particularly its electromagnetic catapults system, so it is normal that tests could take longer than the PLA Navy's previous two aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong.

The tests follow science and putting the carrier into service should not be hurried, Fu said.

Nevertheless, many experts reached by the Global Times agreed that the maiden voyage of the Fujian will come soon.

Based on the recent catapult tests and the CCTV report, the outfitting work of the Fujian is nearly complete and the mooring tests are approaching the last stages, another Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Test voyages will come after the mooring tests are complete, the expert said.

Launched in June 2022, the Fujian is China's third aircraft carrier, also the first domestically developed carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices.

With a full displacement of more than 80,000 tons, the Fujian is China's largest warship, observers said.