China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, entered into service on Wednesday at a grand ceremony held in Sanya, Hainan, according to state media reports.
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The Fujian is China’s most advanced warship and its first aircraft carrier to be equipped with electromagnetic catapults.
Its inauguration makes China only the second country, after the United States, to operate a carrier with this aircraft launch technology.
President Xi Jinping oversaw the ceremony and boarded the Fujian afterwards to hear briefings on aircraft carrier combat capacities and the usage of the electromagnetic catapults, according to Xinhua.
Compared to the conventional ski-jump decks, catapults allow planes to be launched more frequently, at higher speeds from a shorter distance and with a higher payload.
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However, US President Donald Trump last week said he wanted to abandon the electromagnetic catapult technology and go back to steam power, calling the advanced launch system expensive, unreliable and difficult to repair.
