China unveils its most advanced aircraft carrier and promises it will soon be “combat ready”.

Chinese state media has released new images of the country’s most advanced aircraft carrier yet, including next-generation launch pads capable of catapulting a wider range of aircraft from the deck.

The Fujian was first shown to the public in June 2022 and is entirely designed and built domestically.

But for initial sea trials, the aircraft carrier is larger and more technologically advanced than the Shandong, which entered service in 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought used from Ukraine in 1998 and rebuilt domestically.

Late Tuesday, state television showed the Fujian being towed away by a smaller ship, with all three tracks of the electromagnetic catapult system visible on deck.

“In the new year, we will make the most of every minute, work with determination and strive for combat readiness as quickly as possible,” state television quoted a Fujian official as saying.

The Fujian conducted offshore trials, including mooring tests

The airline began launch testing of its electromagnetic catapult system in November

The Fujian has been conducting tests, including facility tests, ahead of sea trials that some observers expected would take place in 2023.

According to China’s state-run Global Times newspaper, the airline began launch tests for its electromagnetic catapult system in November.

Apart from the Ford-class aircraft carriers, a new class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers being developed for the US Navy, the Fujian will be the only aircraft carrier in the world equipped with the latest Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launching System (EMALS). is.

The Chinese version of the EMALS can launch more types of aircraft than the Shandong or Liaoning and will also be more reliable and energy efficient, which is a milestone in the modernization of the Chinese military.

President Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for increased combat readiness and technological advances ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 2027.

Some senior US military officers have previously said that China will begin a military takeover of Taiwan by this year.

Ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections, Taiwan reported that China was continuing its daily military activities in the Taiwan Strait and around the democratically-ruled island.

Chinese fighter jets have also occasionally crossed the center line of the strait, which previously served as an unofficial barrier but which Beijing says it does not recognize.