The three details are thought-provoking, and the Fujian ship’s first sea trial was successful

On the afternoon of May 8, 2024, China's third aircraft carrier "Fujian" completed its first eight-day trial voyage and successfully returned to the dock. Since its first trial, the ship’s dynamics have attracted much attention from all parties, and some of the details are thought-provoking.

On the afternoon of May 8, my country's third aircraft carrier Fujian successfully completed its eight-day first sailing test mission and successfully returned to the Jiangnan Shipyard dock. During the trial, the Fujian ship completed a series of tests of power, electricity and other system equipment and achieved the expected results. In the next step, the ship will carry out follow-up tests according to the established plan. Picture/China Bugle Weibo

Comprehensive media publicly reported that the sea trial of the "Fujian" started on May 1 and ended on May 8, lasting 8 days. In comparison, the first sea trial of China's first domestically produced aircraft carrier "Shandong" began on May 13, 2018 and ended on May 18, lasting 6 days. According to public information, the displacement of the "Shandong" aircraft carrier is about 60,000 tons, while the displacement of the "Fujian" is in the 80,000-ton level. This seems to indicate that the length of the first sea trial is related to the size of the aircraft carrier's displacement, that is, five or six days for 50,000 to 60,000 tons, and seven or eight days for 70,000 to 80,000 tons. But is this really the case?

In fact, the trial time of an aircraft carrier is not directly related to its tonnage. According to reports from the Reference News Network citing the Daily News and other foreign media reports, the U.S. Navy’s latest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Ford, has a displacement of 100,000 tons. The first sea trial was from April 8 to 14, 2017, which lasted seven days. . Then, another question arises. The first trial of the 100,000-ton "Ford" took one day less than the 80,000-ton "Fujian". Is it related to the difference in equipment parameters of the two aircraft carriers?

This is obviously also a cognitive bias. The length of the sea trial of military ships mainly depends on the specific content of the required test items and various practical problems that arise during the sea trial. To put it simply, if the sea trial arranges more test items, the time will be longer, and vice versa, the time will be shorter.

At the same time, if an obvious or even serious problem suddenly occurs during the test of a certain project, the scheduled test plan will be changed or even suspended, some scheduled test items will be reduced, and the company will return to the home port in advance. For example, the "Ford" aircraft carrier mentioned earlier, after its first sea trial in April 2017, did not conduct the first impact test of the entire ship until June 18, 2021. During this period, many problems, large and small, were exposed, and related tests and plans were postponed. Continuously.

So, what is usually done during the first sea trial of an aircraft carrier?

On the afternoon of May 8, my country's third aircraft carrier Fujian successfully completed its eight-day first sailing test mission and successfully returned to the Jiangnan Shipyard dock. During the trial, the Fujian ship completed a series of tests of power, electricity and other system equipment and achieved the expected results. In the next step, the ship will carry out follow-up tests according to the established plan. Picture/China Bugle Weibo

In fact, for ships, whether they are aircraft carriers as large as tens of thousands of tons or small boats as small as dozens of tons, the specific projects of the first sea trial have some things in common.

Generally speaking, the first trial of a ship requires the following test items:

——Main engine navigation test. This includes checking the status of the main engine under navigation conditions, the operating conditions 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, as well as the main engine load test, actual fuel consumption test, etc. content.

——Speed ​​test. This includes testing the ship's propulsion speed under different power and propeller rotation conditions, as well as the corresponding changes in main engine power and propeller thrust and the corresponding rules associated with these data.

——Manipulation test. Including rotation test and inertia test, etc. The rotation test is to test the turning and turning performance of the ship. The inertia test is to test the distance and time the ship sails due to inertia when the main engine is stopped or reversed. This data is particularly important for large ships such as aircraft carriers. It is not only related to navigation safety, but also involves the ship's evasive maneuverability in emergency situations.

——Steering performance test. It includes testing the main steering gear and the backup steering gear. Its main purpose is to test the maneuverability, flexibility and working reliability of the rudder, and to provide the sailors and crew with the basis for steering the ship.

——Anchoring test. This is a test unique to ships and is divided into bow anchor anchoring and stern anchor anchoring. For very large ships such as aircraft carriers and oil tankers, anchorage testing is more complicated.

——Navigation equipment testing and other tests. Including testing the deviation of navigation equipment such as magnetic compass and gyrocompass, correcting and adjusting the direction finder deviation, measuring and eliminating the error of the speed log, measuring the accuracy of the depth sounder, etc. For aircraft carriers, navigation equipment is more complex and test projects are more detailed and complicated.

It can be seen that the first sea trial of a military ship mainly tests and screens some basic performance. It is good if there are no problems, and it is normal for problems to occur. As for the first sea trial of the "Fujian", official platforms such as "China Military Network" reported that the sea trial "completed a series of tests of power, electricity and other system equipment and achieved the expected results." This shows that the entire sea trial process of the "Fujian" was smooth and controllable, and did not exceed the prior risk estimate.

In the public photos, the track of the "Fujian" sailing on the sea is clear, and the waves form a certain arc when turning sharply. Military expert Zhang Junshe said that this shows that the ship has relatively good maneuverability and the power system can support the aircraft carrier in high-speed maneuvers. This is quite difficult for an 80,000-ton large aircraft carrier that adopts a large number of new technologies such as electromagnetic catapult.

It is worth mentioning that the public report specifically mentioned the "power system". For aircraft carriers equipped with electromagnetic catapult 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 its first sea trial, and the power system is important for maintaining the combat capability of the aircraft carrier, exerting the effectiveness of the weapons and equipment system on the aircraft carrier, and improving the habitability of the crew. of great significance. What the successful completion of this test means is self-evident.

On the afternoon of May 8, my country's third aircraft carrier Fujian successfully completed its eight-day first sailing test mission and successfully returned to the Jiangnan Shipyard dock. During the trial, the Fujian ship completed a series of tests of power, electricity and other system equipment and achieved the expected results. In the next step, the ship will carry out follow-up tests according to the established plan. Picture/China Bugle Weibo

From the pictures and videos released by official media platforms such as "China Military Network" and "China Bugle", it is not difficult to find that the first sea trial of the "Fujian" has another outstanding feature, that is, the deck is empty, except for a few engineering vehicles. There are no carrier-based 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 interlocked. For aircraft carriers, in addition to the power system and navigation tests mentioned above, comprehensive testing of ship-based equipment, carrier-based aircraft operation, weapon systems, damage control and fire-fighting systems, comprehensive systems, etc. sub-projects and even sub-projects of staff training and adaptability. The empty deck displayed by the "Fujian" shows that the test items of this first sea trial do not include the testing of carrier-based aircraft, ship-based weapon systems, etc. This is also consistent with the official position.

But this does not mean that the progress of the "Fujian" is slow.

Military expert Chen Hu pointed out that the technical span from the "Shandong" to the "Fujian" is no smaller than the technical span from the "Varyag" to the "Liaoning" aircraft carrier, and may even be larger. From the "Liaoning" to the "Shandong", and then from the "Shandong" to the "Fujian", "major technological progress must be made step by step and in a down-to-earth manner."

The large technological span means higher stability requirements and more stringent and comprehensive testing standards for all systems on the ship. Pictures and videos from official reports show that the close-range anti-aircraft gun and short-range air defense missile systems on the "Fujian" have been installed in place and are in a state of being tested as a whole. The official report stated that "the ship will carry out follow-up test work according to the established plan," indicating that the future test plan of the "Fujian" has not been affected. This further confirms that the results of the first sea trial are very positive and successful.