China flexes western Pacific muscle with Fujian launches: analysts

The successful launch of a batch of carrier-based fighter jets from China’s most advanced aircraft carrier signalled the country’s enhanced military influence in the western Pacific region and intensified competition within the second island chain, analysts observed.

The J-15T fighter jet, the fifth-generation J-35 stealth fighter and the airborne early warning aircraft KJ-600 successfully completed catapult launches and arresting gear landing tests aboard the Fujian, according to CCTV on Monday, citing the navy.

The Fujian is China’s first fully domestically designed aircraft carrier and the world’s largest conventionally powered warship, with a displacement of more than 80,000 tons (72,575 tonnes).

The carrier is equipped with three advanced electromagnetic catapults, making it the second aircraft carrier in the world, after the US Ford-class, to possess this technology.

In another undated photo released on Tuesday by Xinhua, crew members signal to the pilot of a J-35 stealth fighter jet for a take-off on the flight deck of the Fujian at an undisclosed location. Photo: Xinhua via AP

CCTV released footage on Monday showing the successful electromagnetic catapult launches of the J-15T fighter, the J-35 stealth fighter and the KJ-600 airborne early warning aircraft from the Fujian, stating that they marked a leap forward for the Chinese naval aviation force.

The exact date of the launches was not immediately clear.

South China Morning Post