China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which the Chinese Communist Party had placed high hopes on, recently appeared in a CCTV documentary. However, instead of showing the long-awaited “catapult launch” footage, media outlets and military experts spotted what they believe is a fatal flaw: the carrier cannot launch and recover fighter jets at the same time.It is still unclear whether the footage of the carrier’s proudest feature—the electromagnetic catapult—was cut because of a failed test, or if the technology is simply not up to standard and they dared not show it. Either way, the supposed “fully independent design” has already revealed a major weakness.
