China's third aircraft carrier begins its maiden sea trial

The CNS Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier, started its maiden sea trial on Wednesday morning, according to the People's Liberation Army Navy.

The PLA Navy announced the development in a brief statement without elaborating on details such as the schedule and planned location of the trial.

It said the colossal vessel set sail around 8 am and the sea trial is intended for verifying the reliability and stability of the carrier's propulsion and electric power systems.

As one of the most important military hardware China is working on, the Fujian was officially unveiled in June 2022 in Shanghai as it was towed out of its dry dock at the China State Shipbuilding Corp's Jiangnan Shipyard.

Upon its completion, the gigantic vessel will displace more than 80,000 metric tons of water. It will be the largest and mightiest warship any Asian nation has ever built, as well as the world's biggest non-American aircraft carrier.

Currently, the Navy operates two aircraft carriers — the CNS Liaoning and the CNS Shandong. Both have a standard displacement of around 50,000 tons and a conventional propulsion system, and they use a ski jump method for launching fixed-wing aircraft.

Compared with its two predecessors, the Fujian is much bigger and heavier and has a larger flight deck and smaller superstructure.

The Liaoning underwent 10 sea trials before going into service, and the Shandong conducted nine before its commissioning.