China’s Fujian aircraft carrier spotted in new position, bringing it a step closer to sea trial, analysts say

PLA’s most advanced carrier is shown metres from usual berthing place in satellite images, and it appears to launch object in unverified video

Aircraft carriers are expected to play key role in strategy for potential Taiwan attack and are part of Chinese navy’s goal to operate in open sea

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The Fujian is China’s first aircraft carrier to be equipped with electromagnetic catapults to launch planes from its deck. Photo: Weibo

Published: 8:29pm, 27 Nov 2023Updated: 9:51pm, 27 Nov 2023

China’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has moved dozens of metres from its usual berthing place in what analysts say could be a sign the warship is moving towards a sea trial.

The country’s third carrier moved around 27 metres (89 feet) from the quay in the Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai on November 19, then returned to its normal position within two days, according to imagery from the Sentinel-2 satellite operated by the European Space Agency.

Aircraft carriers are a part of the Chinese navy’s goal to operate in the open sea. Military exercises show they would also play a key role in any strategy for an attack on Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own and has vowed to unite with the Chinese mainland, by force if necessary.

The Fujian is China’s first carrier to be equipped with electromagnetic catapults to launch planes from its deck. Its two aircraft carriers in operation, the Liaoning and the Shandong, use ski-jump take-off ramps instead.

With this technological advancement, the People’s Liberation Army leapfrogged the less power-efficient steam catapults used by the US Navy’s Nimitz-class carriers that began operating in the 1970s.