Never mind China's new aircraft carrier, these are the ships the US should worry about
Never mind China's new aircraft carrier, these are the ships the US should worry about
Analysis by Brad Lendon, CNN
Updated 7:59 PM ET, Sat June 25, 2024
Seoul, South Korea (CNN)China made a big statement about its naval ambitions with the recent launch of its third and most advanced aircraft carrier.
The Fujian -- by far China's biggest, most modern and most powerful aircraft carrier to date -- is the 80,000-ton jewel in the crown of a military expansion that has seen Beijing grow its navy into the world's largest.
Its new combat systems -- such as an electromagnetic catapult-assisted launch system -- show China is fast catching up with the United States, experts say, and will give it the ability to launch more aircraft, more quickly, and with more ammunition.
That should be enough to give any would-be opponent pause for thought, especially given China's increasing aggression in its territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea, a host of Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea, and its repeated harassment of the self-governed island of Taiwan -- where it has pointedly refused to rule out an invasion.
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