Video Reveals China's Warship Testing Advanced Aircraft Launch System

The People's Liberation Army Navy's latest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, appears to have entered a new phase of testing after a passenger plane captured a rare trial of the Chinese warship's catapult aircraft launch system.

The apparent milestone was filmed in a video shared on China's X-like microblogging app Weibo on Sunday. The country's military enthusiasts immediately recognized it as the Fujian and shared it widely on social media platforms, including outside China.

The PLA Navy officially launched the Fujian—designated a Type 003 carrier—in June last year. China's third aircraft carrier is awaiting extensive testing, including at sea, before it can be commissioned.

When in active service, some of its capabilities are expected to rival some of the best carriers in the world, including those of the United States, even if the Chinese Navy's talent and overall know-how remain several generations behind.

The Weibo footage, seen by Newsweek, appeared to be recorded from an airplane flying over the extensive shipyard facilities where the carrier is currently berthed. The observation was made possible by overflights from the nearby Pudong Shanghai International Airport.

The video showed the launch and subsequent drop of a test vehicle from one of the two forward catapult positions on the Fujian, which shares similarities with the U.S. Navy's Gerald R. Ford-class ship's "electromagnetic aircraft launch system," or EMALS.

The Fujian's "catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery," or CATOBAR, system enables Chinese ships to launch more and heavier fixed-wing aircraft. It will be the first of its kind on a Chinese aircraft carrier.

While it was unclear whether similar testing had been done before, it was another significant step toward its full completion. It followed recent satellite imagery analysis that suggested the carrier had been relocated from its original position, pointing to a possible maiden voyage for sea trials.

"Since the Pudong Shanghai International Airport is located very closely to Changxing Island, the location of builder Jiangnan and other shipyards, related imagery taken from passenger planes has become a common source to follow the progress of several major [PLA Navy] programs," analyst Alex Luck wrote in Naval News on Sunday.

Changxing Island, a prominent naval and commercial shipbuilding hub in Shanghai, is where the Fujian—China's second domestically built "flat-top" warship—was assembled, but it is also home to a range of other upcoming warships of all categories.

China has rapidly expanded its shipbuilding efforts—both military and commercial—as part of its plans to modernize its armed forces and dominate maritime industries. Its shipbuilding capacity means its navy—already the largest in the world by hull count—will eventually overtake the U.S. Navy by tonnage, too.