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Liu Zhen

Alcott Wei

China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has significant design flaws that future carriers can overcome only by adopting nuclear power, according to a military magazine.
The Fujian is the country’s first domestically designed aircraft carrier and was commissioned in November.
With a displacement of over 80,000 tonnes, it is the world’s largest conventional warship and the first non-American ship to be equipped with advanced electromagnetic catapults.
However, the most advanced US ships – the Gerald R. Ford class – have three catapults compared with the Chinese ship’s two, making their launch process faster and more efficient.
The article in the Shipborne Weapons Defence Review also identified problems that it said could only be overcome by making future carriers nuclear-powered.
The first two Chinese carriers were based on Soviet-era designs, but the Fujian can carry a full spectrum of aircraft, ranging from fifth-generation stealth fighters and surveillance planes to drones.
Together they form an integrated system capable of delivering a powerful first-wave strike, according to the article.
However, the ship was far from “perfect”, the article said, pointing to several design flaws. “These issues are largely caused by the Fujian’s conventional propulsion system and are mostly related to aircraft operations.”
It said a key problem was the location of its island superstructure, which was near the middle of the ship and significantly reduced efficiency.


It compared the positioning of the island with the greater space available on US Kitty Hawk class carriers, a conventionally powered class of ships decommissioned in 2009.
Electromagnetic catapults are supposed to make the launching of warplanes quicker and more efficient, but many observers have pointed out that one of the Fujian’s catapults encroaches onto the deck, which means it cannot be used when planes are landing.
The article added that another catapult was too close to the lift used to raise the planes onto the deck, creating another bottleneck.
“Some observers believe that the No 1 aircraft elevator on the Fujian is positioned too far forward because the carrier’s catapult configuration was modified during development, switching from steam catapults to electromagnetic catapults,” the article said.




Lu Li-shih, a former Taiwanese navy captain, said the PLA Navy had already tried to address these design flaws in other ships, including the Sichuan, an amphibious assault ship that launched in 2024 and also uses electromagnetic catapults but has a smaller island.
He added that Chinese naval warplanes could be kept on deck for longer than their US equivalents because their radar-absorbent coatings did not suffer the same levels of “wear and tear” in humid conditions, potentially reducing the time needed to get the jets into the air.
The article argued that most of these design problems could be resolved by building a nuclear-powered carrier.
It said the Fujian’s island had to be in its current place because the ship’s conventional propulsion system required a large exhaust funnel for its boilers – something that was not a problem for nuclear-powered ships.
Using nuclear power would also eliminate the need for propulsion fuel, freeing up more space for fuel used to power warplanes and drones.
Nuclear-powered vessels also had faster acceleration and more power to support modern electronic systems, the article added.
This would also allow future ships to place the lifts in better positions, ensuring that the second catapult did not interfere with the landing area.
Satellite imagery suggests China is building a fourth carrier and there has been speculation that it will be nuclear-powered.


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The Fujian, China’s first domestically designed aircraft carrier, is the world’s largest conventionally powered warship. Photo: Xinhua

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A surveillance photograph of the Fujian shows no sign of carrier-based aircraft on the vessel’s flight deck during the transit. Photo: Taiwanese Ministry of National Defence

Wellington Koo (left), Taiwan’s defence minister, told the island’s legislature on Wednesday that the Fujian’s transit through the Taiwan Strait did not indicate any “military intent”. Photo: Reuters

What if China’s KJ-600 aircraft could serve older carriers as well as Fujian?

A KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft makes an arrested landing on China’s catapult-equipped aircraft carrier Fujian. Photo: Xinhua

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Three trucks linked to form what appears to be a launch track for large drones have been spotted at a dock in China. Photo: Handout

The cargo ship Zhong Da 79, with the three linked eight-wheeled low loaders and large drones visible on the dock. Photo: Handout

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The USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group have reportedly been told to leave the South China Sea and go to the Middle East. Photo: EPA-EFE

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Military magazine pinpoints design flaws in the Fujian carrier that significantly reduce its launch efficiency


Military magazine pinpoints design flaws in the Fujian carrier that significantly reduce its launch efficiency.


Fujian Type 003 aircraft carrier

Taiwan

United States

US Navy

Why China may need to take the nuclear option for its next aircraft carrier

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Military magazine pinpoints design flaws in the Fujian carrier that significantly reduce its launch efficiency

Military magazine pinpoints design flaws in the Fujian carrier that significantly reduce its launch efficiency