How India’s Vikrant stacks up against China’s new Fujian

The two competing powers each require comparisons in addition to acquiring an aircraft carrier less than two months apart, even though all details about the carrier’s capabilities have not been disclosed by either country.

Fujian is bigger than Vikrant

The Vikrant has a full displacement of around 45,000 tonnes. It has a cruising speed of 18 knots with a top speed of about 28 knots and an endurance of about 7,500 knots. It is 262 meters long, 62 meters wide and 59 meters high. Its air wing can operate 30 aircraft. It has over 2,300 coaches, designed for a crew of about 1,700 people.

While Chinese state media have not released Fujian’s detailed specifications, the SCMP reports that satellite images show the new carrier is about 320 meters long and 73 meters wide. It has a full displacement of over 80,000 tonnes. No details are available about the size of Fujian’s air wing, but it should be larger than that of China’s two other aircraft carriers. Shandong has 36 aircraft while Liaoning 40.

From the available information, it is clear that Fujian beats Vikrant in terms of size as well as capacity.

Vikrant’s Traditional Aircraft Launch Technique

Vikrant uses the Short Take-off But Arrest Recovery (STOBAR) system to launch the aircraft. The STOBAR system uses a ski-jump ramp that hurls the aircraft above the carrier. So the edge of the carrier deck tilts slightly upwards. The arrester wire is used for the landing of the aircraft. This system is easy to maintain but it limits the types of aircraft that can be used for carriers. The Indian aircraft carrier Vikramaditya and China’s Shandong and Liaoning carriers also use this system. But Fujian has modern technology to launch aircraft.

Game-changer technology from EMALS, Fujian

Fujian is equipped with a technology that only the latest American Ford class aircraft carriers have. It’s called EMALS, or Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System. This is a step ahead of what Vikrant has got, the traditional ski-jump ramp to launch the aircraft.

Unlike the Vikrant, the Fujian has a flat deck as it uses catapults to launch the aircraft as it has a CATOBAR (Catapelt-Assisted Take-Off But Arrest Recovery) system. For its catapult, instead of steam, Fujian uses EMALS which is a more advanced and efficient method of launching aircraft with electromagnetic force.

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EMALS gives Fujian a clear edge over Vikrant because the technology can launch larger aircraft, including those with heavier payloads or more fuel, drones, larger surveillance aircraft and heavy transport aircraft. This multiplies Fujian’s operational power over carriers with STOBAR systems such as India’s Vikrant.

EMALS is the real game-changer for Fujian which ranks it above Vikrant and makes it comparable with US carriers. Some might call it China’s response to US naval intervention in the Indo-Pacific. However, Fujian also gives China the ability to assert itself in the Indian Ocean.

But in reality, Fujian may not be able to operate the new technology as efficiently as it promises, at least for a long initial period.

Doubts on Fujian’s new technology

Experts have cast doubt on China’s claim of Fujian using EMALS technology. Indian naval experts are puzzled and want to know how Fujian will operate EMALS on steam power, when the technically much superior and nuclear-powered USS Gerald Ford has been struggling with the same system for many years, a recent one. HT report revealed. Reports from the US Department of Defense suggest that EMALS are prone to frequent malfunctions and are less reliable.

Why India didn’t use EMALS on Vikrant

General Atomics, the US company that developed EMALS, was approved by the Donald Trump administration to supply the new technology to India for use on Vikrant. But the Indian Navy chose not to use EMALS due to its high cost and more importantly its lack of reliability. Not only has EMALS reported a breakdown, it has only been tested aboard the nuclear-powered carrier, the USS Gerald Ford. Its suitability for smaller, conventionally operated carriers has yet to be proven. Here lies Fujian’s challenge. And that could erode his clear edge over Vikrant.

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