(Original title: The first sea trial of Fujian Ship was successful, and the three details are intriguing)
The first sea trial of the Fujian warship was successful. The picture shows the "Fujian"/microblog of the Chinese military number
In the afternoon of May 8, 2024, China's third aircraft carrier, "Fujian", completed its first 8-day trial voyage and returned to the dock smoothly. Since the ship's first trial voyage, its dynamics have been concerned by all parties, and some of its details are thought-provoking.
01
8 days and 80000 tons
The comprehensive media publicly reported that the sea trial of the "Fujian" started on May 1 and ended on May 8, lasting eight days. In contrast, the first sea trial of China's first domestic aircraft carrier, "Shandong", began on May 13, 2018 and ended on May 18, 2018, lasting six days. According to public data, the displacement of the "Shandong" aircraft carrier is about 60000 tons, while the displacement of the "Fujian" aircraft carrier is 80000 tons. This seems to indicate that the length of the first sea trial is related to the size of the aircraft carrier displacement, that is, five or six days for 50000 or 60000 tons, and seven or eight days for 780000 or 80000 tons. But is it true?
In fact, the aircraft carrier trial time is not directly related to its tonnage. According to foreign media such as the Daily News quoted by the reference news website, the latest nuclear powered aircraft carrier "Ford" of the US Navy has a displacement of 100000 tons. The first sea trial took seven days from April 8 to 14, 2017. Then, another problem followed. The first trial of the 100000 ton "Ford" took one day less than that of the 80000 ton "Fujian". Is it related to the difference in equipment parameters of the two aircraft carriers?
This is obviously a cognitive bias. The duration of the sea trial of military ships mainly depends on the specific contents of the required test items and various practical problems in the sea trial. In short, the sea trial will take a long time if there are many test items arranged, and vice versa.
At the same time, if obvious or even serious problems suddenly occur in the test of a certain project, it will also change or even suspend the scheduled test plan, reduce some scheduled test projects, and return to the home port in advance. For example, the "Ford" aircraft carrier mentioned above, after the first sea trial in April 2017, did not conduct the first impact test of the whole ship until June 18, 2021, during which many problems, large and small, were exposed, and related tests and plans continued to be delayed.
So, what do aircraft carriers usually do in their first sea trials?
During the trial voyage, Fujian Ship completed a series of tests on power, power and other system equipment, which reached the expected effect picture/China Military Microblog
02
The expression of "electricity" is very prominent
In fact, for ships, whether they are aircraft carriers of tens of thousands of tons or small boats of dozens of tons, the specific projects of the first sea trial have some common ground.
Generally speaking, the following test items shall be carried out during the first sea trial of a ship:
——Main engine navigation test. It includes checking the status of the main engine in the sailing state, the operation status of various auxiliary engines serving the main engine, the actual output power of the main engine, the stability and reliability of the operation of each unit (such as whether there is oil leakage), as well as the load test of the main engine, the actual oil consumption test and other aspects.
——Speed test. It includes testing the speed of the ship at different power and propeller at different revolutions, as well as the corresponding changes of the main engine power and propeller thrust and the corresponding laws associated with these data.
——Manoeuvrability test. Including rotation test and inertia test. Turning test is to test the turning and turning performance of ships. Inertia test is to test the distance and time of navigation due to inertia when the main engine stops or reverses. This data is particularly important for large ships such as aircraft carriers, which is not only related to navigation safety, but also related to the evading maneuverability of ships in emergencies.
——Steering performance test. It includes testing the main steering device and the standby steering device. Its main purpose is to test the maneuverability, flexibility and reliability of the rudder, and provide the sailors and crew with the basis for steering the ship.
——Anchor test. This is a unique test of the ship, which is divided into head anchor and tail anchor. For such super large ships as aircraft carriers and oil tankers, the anchoring test is more complex.
——Navigation equipment test and other tests. It includes testing the deviation of navigation equipment such as magnetic compass and gyrocompass, correcting and adjusting the deviation of direction finder, measuring and eliminating the error of log, and measuring the accuracy of bathymeter. For aircraft carriers, navigation equipment is more complex, and test items are more detailed and complicated.
It can be seen that the first sea trial of military ships is mainly to test and screen some basic performance. It is good if there is no problem, and it is normal if there is any problem. For the first sea trial of "Fujian", official platforms such as "China Military Network" reported that the sea trial "completed a series of tests on power, power and other system equipment, and achieved the expected results". This shows that the whole sea trial process of the "Fujian" was stable and controllable, and did not exceed the prior risk estimates.
In the public photos, the "Fujian" has a clear track on the sea, and the waves form a certain arc when turning sharply. Military expert Zhang Junshe said that this shows that the ship has good maneuverability, and the power system can support the aircraft carrier for high-speed maneuvers. This is not easy for large aircraft carriers with 80000 tons and a large number of new technologies such as electromagnetic ejection.
It is worth mentioning that public reports specifically mention "power system". For aircraft carriers equipped with electromagnetic ejection systems, the power system is crucial. The electromagnetic ejection system has very strict requirements on power quality and power level. In this regard, Zhang Junshe believes that the "Fujian" aircraft carrier tested the power system in the first sea trial, and the power system is of great significance in maintaining the combat capability of aircraft carrier based aircraft, giving play to the effectiveness of the weapon equipment system on the aircraft carrier, and improving the livability of the crew. It is self-evident what the successful completion of this test means.
In the afternoon of May 8, Fujian Ship successfully completed its first 8-day voyage test mission and successfully returned to Jiangnan Shipyard Wharf Map/China Military Microblog
03
The Secret Behind the Open Deck
From the pictures and videos released by official media platforms such as "China Military Network" and "China Military", it is not difficult to find that the first sea trial of the "Fujian" has another prominent feature, that is, the deck is empty, except for a few engineering vehicles, there is no carrier aircraft. What does this empty deck mean?
For ships, from design to construction, from launching to outfitting, from sea trials to service, various complicated tests must be carried out, and these tests are linked in turn. For aircraft carriers, in addition to the power system and navigation test mentioned above, it is also necessary to conduct comprehensive tests on shipborne equipment, shipborne aircraft operations, weapon systems, damage management and fire fighting systems, integrated systems, etc., including sub projects and even sub projects of shipman training and adaptability. The open deck displayed by "Fujian" shows that the test items of this first sea trial do not include the tests of shipborne aircraft, shipborne weapon systems and other items, which is also consistent with the official statement.
But this in no way means that the progress of the "Fujian" is slow.
Chen Hu, a military expert, pointed out that the technical span from "Shandong" to "Fujian" is not smaller than that from "Varyag" to "Liaoning" aircraft carrier, and may even be larger. From "Liaoning" to "Shandong", and then from "Shandong" to "Fujian", "significant technological progress must be made step by step and steadily".
The large technical span means that the stability of all systems of the whole ship is required to be higher, and the test standards are more rigorous and comprehensive. According to the pictures and videos officially reported, the near anti gun and short-range air defense missile systems on the "Fujian" have been installed in place and are in the state of the overall system to be tested. The official report that "the ship will carry out follow-up tests as planned" indicates that the future test plan of the "Fujian" has not been affected, which further confirms that the results of the first sea trial are very positive and successful.
Author: Wang Liyu, Special Observer of China News Network
Extended Reading
The Fujian Ship was born in the sky, and the "theory of aircraft carrier uselessness" was sidelined
Direct news ： Mr. Liu, Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier, successfully completed its first eight day voyage test mission. What do you think this means for the development of China's aircraft carrier industry?
Special commentator Liu Heping ： In my opinion, to answer this question, we still need to make a comparison, that is, we need to make a comparison between two dimensions, one is vertical comparison, comparison with the past, and the other is horizontal comparison, comparison with other countries in the world, especially with aircraft carriers in the United States.
First of all, the longitudinal comparison, that is, compared with our two existing aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong, Fujian not only has more power and larger displacement, but also its most prominent feature is that, on the most important ejection device of the aircraft carrier, from the ski jump takeoff of Liaoning and Shandong, it has stepped into the stage of electromagnetic ejection system, The electromagnetic ejection system is the best auxiliary takeoff device for fixed wing carrier aircraft of modern aircraft carrier. In this sense, the success of the Fujian sea trial means that China's aircraft carriers have entered a new era of electromagnetic ejection.
Secondly, according to media reports, compared with the existing aircraft carriers in the United States, Fujian has also created many world firsts. First, we know that the American aircraft carrier "Ford" is the first aircraft carrier in the world to use electromagnetic ejection system. However, let's not forget that the "Ford" is a nuclear powered aircraft carrier, while the Fujian Ship is a conventional powered aircraft carrier, so the Fujian Ship can be called the first conventional powered aircraft carrier equipped with an electromagnetic ejection system in the world; Second, although the electromagnetic ejection system is the best auxiliary takeoff device for the fixed wing carrier aircraft of contemporary aircraft carriers, it can be divided into medium voltage AC electromagnetic ejection system and medium voltage DC electromagnetic ejection system. The latter has better performance than the former, while the Ford uses the former, and the Fujian ship uses the latter. This undoubtedly means that Fujian Ship has created a world first; Third, the US aircraft carrier "Ford" is equipped with F-35 "Lightning" II - type stealth carrier based fighter, but no heavy carrier based fighter is equipped, while Russian aircraft carrier is equipped with Su-33 carrier based heavy fighter, but no stealth fighter is equipped, and Fujian ship is the first aircraft carrier in the world that is equipped with the fifth generation stealth carrier based fighter, namely J-35 carrier based aircraft, and also equipped with heavy carrier based fighter, namely J-15T carrier based aircraft; Fourth, Fujian is also the first aircraft carrier in the world equipped with more than 30 active electronically scanned array radar devices. These firsts mean the successful sea trial of the Fujian warship, which is an important milestone in the history of the development of the Chinese navy.
Direct news ： What position does the successful sea trial of the Fujian warship mark for the development of China's aircraft carriers and navy in the world?
Special commentator Liu Heping ： I think that to answer this question, we still need to make a horizontal comparison around the world.
First of all, we know that the United States, which has 11 aircraft carriers and is all nuclear powered aircraft carriers, is undoubtedly still the "big brother" of the world today in the development of aircraft carriers, and far surpasses other countries. Therefore, compared with the United States, there is still a considerable gap in the development of China's aircraft carrier industry, which is an undeniable objective reality.
But although it is not enough, it is more than enough. As we all know, Britain, an old imperialist country that once dominated the world, has only two aircraft carriers in service, the Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales, and these two aircraft carriers are often anchored at sea due to power system failures; France, known as a powerful country in Europe, has only two aircraft carriers in service, the "De Gaulle" and the "Francois Auvergne", of which the latter is too old to move; Italy, another powerful country in Europe, boasts three aircraft carriers, including one to be retired and one light aircraft carrier. There is only one large aircraft carrier in service; Although India, a powerful country in South Asia, claims to have two aircraft carriers, the only one that can really serve is the Viklamatiya; At the same time, the Soviet Union, previously known as the second military power in the world, and Russia now have only one aircraft carrier, and have been lying in the shipyard for maintenance. In other words, Russia now has no aircraft carrier in service. Through this data comparison, we can see that, both in terms of quantity and quality, Fujian has officially entered the "era of three aircraft carriers", and Fujian has also created many of the world's first China, which has become the "world's second largest aircraft carrier country".
At the same time, we know that the development of the aircraft carrier industry often marks that a country's underwater submarines, surface ships, air planes and other three forces have been integrated into a complete combat system. Therefore, it is not excessive for us to regard the development level of a country's aircraft carrier as a sign of the development level of the country's navy. From this perspective, it seems that we can draw a conclusion that China's naval strength has already been in the position of "second in the world". This means that after more than 70 years of hardships, the Chinese navy has made a tremendous qualitative change in the maritime security pattern in the Asia Pacific region, even in the "Indo Pacific" region, especially in the so-called "first island chain" built by the United States and the West.
In addition, we should also see that the power of role models is endless. Just as the internal driving force of a student in learning often comes from who he or she takes as an example, so does the development of a country's military power. In the past, the development of China's military power, especially the development of aircraft carriers, took the Soviet Union as an example. Our conversion of the "Varyag" aircraft carrier into the Liaoning ship was a typical example. Now the Chinese navy has taken the United States, the world's dominant maritime power in the development of aircraft carriers, as its own goal, which means that, In the future, the development of China's aircraft carrier industry will not only have huge potential and space, but also will be full of energy.
Direct news ： In your opinion, with the success of the sea trial of the Fujian warship, what role will China's aircraft carriers play in safeguarding national security and territorial integrity in the future?
Special commentator Liu Heping ： I noticed that there was a popular saying "It is useless for China to develop aircraft carriers" on the Internet earlier. Because compared with the United States, China's aircraft carrier industry not only started too late, but also has a considerable gap in strength. However, with the success of the sea trial in Fujian, I believe that this kind of voice will gradually disappear.
What I want to point out here in particular is that the success of the Fujian sea trial means that the imbalance between the military forces on both sides of the Straits is further aggravated, and even means that the military forces of the mainland have formed a crushing advantage when facing Taiwan. In the future, it will become more impossible for the "Taiwan independence" forces to "seek independence by force and reject reunification by force". The sea trial of the Fujian warship chose Lai Qingde, a "pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence", on the eve of coming to power and delivering his inaugural speech. This timing is also quite interesting. The Taiwan authorities can interpret this by themselves.
Author Liu Heping, a special commentator of Shenzhen Satellite TV's Live Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan
