A United States satellite on Wednesday captured a Chinese aircraft carrier underway at sea, while Beijing's navy also sent its newest "flattop" for another round of sea trials.
The Chinese military has the largest naval force in the world with more than 370 ships and submarines, including three conventionally powered aircraft carriers. China has also developed a prototype nuclear reactor that could potentially be used in an aircraft carrier.
The satellite imagery of CNS Liaoning, China's first operational aircraft carrier, was captured by Landsat 8, which was developed as a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The warship, which has a full displacement of 66,000 tons, was spotted in the Bohai Sea off the coast of northeastern China. It joined a dual aircraft carrier operation in the South China Sea last month before returning to its base in Qingdao, a coastal city in East China.
Meanwhile, China's most advanced aircraft carrier, CNS Fujian, departed from Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard on Monday, according to images posted on X, formerly Twitter. It is reported that the 80,000-ton "flattop," which was launched in June 2022, has commenced its fifth sea trial.
If these images are indeed legit and from today, then the PLANS-18 "Fujian" has left its pier and started its 5th sea trial.
(Image via @琴石2022 from Weibo) pic.twitter.com/r7mynsMP3K
An unverified photo of a commemorative badge circulating on social media indicated the Fujian would test its catapult-assisted takeoff system with carrier-based aircraft during the sea trial. The badge shows an illustration of the Fujian's electromagnetic catapults launching two aircraft.
Another photo, taken by a ship spotter when the Fujian left its shipyard, shows mock-ups of two types of carrier-based aircraft on the warship's flight deck.
It was not immediately clear where the Fujian would conduct the sea trial. The yet-to-be-commissioned aircraft carrier was sent to the Bohai Sea in September for its fourth sea trial.
Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Earlier this month, the Chinese navy unveiled two new carrier-based aircraft at an airshow, including the J-15T fighter jet. This multi-role combat aircraft can be launched by a catapult-assisted takeoff system, allowing it to carry more fuel and munitions for missions.
Meanwhile, the second Chinese aircraft carrier in service, CNS Shandong, had returned to its home port in Sanya on the Chinese southern island of Hainan as of Sunday, satellite imagery shows, following a deployment in the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea.
The U.S. Navy has dispatched two of its 11 "flattops" to waters near China. One of them, USS George Washington, is due to arrive at its Japanese home port in Yokosuka on Friday for its forward deployment.
The second American aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, sailed into the northern end of the Strait of Malacca on Thursday, according to ship-tracking website VesselFinder. It entered the waterway from the Indian Ocean.
The aircraft carrier was previously deployed in the Middle East after the U.S. military retasked it from its scheduled deployment in the Pacific Ocean. It left the region and had reached the Indian Ocean as of Monday, the U.S. Naval Institute's USNI News reported.
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English (US) ·