China is making big aircraft carrier moves. Here's how its flattops stack up against the US Navy.

"China is making leaps and bounds with carrier technology. It recently showed off its newest aircraft carrier launching jets with electromagnetic catapults, a capability once unique to the US Navy's cutting-edge Ford-class flattops. And it did it with stealth jets, something the US has yet to do. But while Beijing's carriers may be nearing America's in technological capabilities, experts say they're still a long way from fighting like them. The real challenge isn't building ships."

"It's building the experience, crews, and doctrine to use them. "You can engineer and build something much quicker than you can build up a group of people to operate it," Bryan Clark, a retired US Navy submarine officer and defense expert at the Hudson Institute, told Business Insider."

"China has three aircraft carriers. The first two, the Liaoning and Shandong, are operational, but the newest one, Fujian, is completing sea trials. The former two are Soviet designs with ski jumps for launching aircraft. Fujian is a major improvement with its electromagnetic catapults. The US Navy, on the other hand, has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. All of China's vessels are conventionally powered, although there's evidence that it's pursuing a nuclear-powered design. Furthermore, while only one of China's carriers has a catapult, all of the US carriers have catapults."

China has developed carrier capabilities that include the Fujian, which employs electromagnetic catapults and can launch stealth fighters. China currently operates three carriers: Liaoning, Shandong, and the Fujian undergoing sea trials. The first two use ski-jump launches and are based on Soviet designs, while Fujian represents a technological step forward. All Chinese carriers are conventionally powered, though China appears to be exploring nuclear designs. The US Navy fields 11 nuclear-powered carriers with integrated catapult systems and mixes fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft. Major gaps remain in crew experience, operational training, and carrier doctrine despite rapid technological advances.

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