Chinese Supercarrier Fujian vs. USS Gerald Ford: Which New Warship Has a Greater Combat Potential?

The commissioning of the first supercarrier into service in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy has for the first time in over 80 years provided a service outside the U.S. Navy with a peer level carrier capability, with the warship being a close competitor to the latest generation of American carriers the Gerald Ford class ships.

A comparison of the capabilities of the Fujian, and the sole American next generation supercarrier in service the USS Gerald Ford, provides valuable insight into the current standing of the Chinese carrier program.

The clearest difference between the two ships is that the Gerald Ford is approximately 17.5 percent larger, displacing 100,000 tons compared to the Fujian’s 85,000 tons, and having four catapult launch systems for aircraft where the Fujian has three, which allows the American ship to generation sorties approximately 33 percent faster.

Chinese People`s Liberation Army Navy Supercarrier Fujian

A second clear difference is the ships’ propulsion systems, with the Gerald Ford using twin A1B nuclear reactors that generate electricity through steam-driven turbines, where the Fujian uses the world’s first Medium-Voltage Direct Current (MVDC) integrated power system ever integrated onto an aircraft carrier, which provides revolutionary improvements to efficiency.

The use of nuclear propulsion systems provides the Gerald Ford with a significantly greater endurance, and is expected to allow it to sustain its maximum speeds for significantly longer. Nuclear propulsion nevertheless imposes very significant additional costs and maintenance requirements, and extends the servicing time for the ships considerably, meaning the Fujian is not only significantly less costly to produce and to operate, but will also likely be able to spend a much greater portion of its time in service at sea.

The Fujian’s choice of power system appears well suited to the ship’s primary role of safeguarding Chinese interests in East Asia, where the Gerald Ford was designed to project power across the globe. 

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