China Releases First Images, Video Of Aircraft Operating From Its Latest (CATOBAR) Aircraft Carrier Fujian

🇨🇳 Commentary

Commentary-themed posts tend to deal with recent developments. These will typically be much shorter and less detailed than my analysis-themed posts for which commentary-themed posts may serve as “building blocks.”

China has released the first images and videos showing catapult-assisted take-off barrier arrested recovery (CATOBAR) aircraft operating from the flight deck of the Fujian, China's first CATOBAR aircraft carrier. This is an expected but nevertheless important milestone. Leaving aside the sole catapult-equipped Type 076-class landing helicopter dock currently in existence, a second, let alone a third, Chinese CATOBAR aircraft carrier may not be operational until the late 2020s, if not the early 2030s. In the interim, the Fujian is likely to be heavily tasked with supporting the training of an additional CATOBAR air wing(s) alongside its own air wing, as well as supporting the evolution of the PLA Navy's operational concepts. As things stand, the PLA Navy's two operational short take-off, barrier-arrested recovery (STOBAR) aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong, may be shifting toward hybrid, if not, in time, fully CATOBAR air wings (i.e., equipped with CATOBAR J-15T and CATOBAR J-35 fighters), so as to facilitate a faster and more economical transition to a CATOBAR-centric aircraft carrier force over the coming decade.

It is worth noting that the following images of (CATOBAR) KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C) suggest that these newly released images and video are not recent and were likely captured earlier in 2025.

I examined the composition of future Chinese carrier air wings back in November 2024, following the first Chinese exercise involving both of its operational aircraft carriers: