India, Nov. 26 -- On 5 November, China commissioned its third aircraft carrier, Fujian, at its home port in Sanya on Hainan Island in the presence of President Xi Jinping. Displacing 80,000 tonnes, the carrier is capable of launching fifth-generation J-35 fighter jets and KJ-600 Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft using the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS). This marks a significant moment in global carrier aviation and shipbuilding.
At the same time, China is rapidly constructing a fourth aircraft carrier-a nuclear-powered supercarrier equipped with an EMALS system. In contrast, India, despite its long history of carrier aviation, inducted its first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-I), INS Vikrant, only in September 2...