Just be patient. Even after the Fujian is commissioned, it'll take years before reaching IOC.
Also:
Also:
CV-18 Fujian/003 CATOBAR carrier thread
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Why years more? It's already taken years to test it, and if it works as intended, why wait even longer?
Because it takes tons of time to train the crew and refine the day-to-day operations on the ship. This is even more complex and daunting for a ship as massive as a full-fledged supercarrier.
Initial Operating Capability/IOC is about the initial warfighting capability of a vessel, not about whether all of the hardware is functional.
Just because your hardware is verified to work initially during tests, doesn't mean you have the sufficiently experienced crew and pilots to actually have that warfighting capability at the outset, and it also doesn't mean your hardware will function as expected during more intensive operating capabilities.
Think about the last few years as making sure that equipment actually all function.
Then think about the next few years as actually making sure equipment can function under more intensive warfighting conditions and that you have enough crew and resources and logistics to be capable of fighting a war.
Full Operating Capability/FOC will take even longer than that -- an additional few years after IOC is achieved, which will be making sure that your crew and pilots and hardware are all mature and capable of warfighting under a variety of conditions including the most intensive.
That's something all weapons systems go through, not just CV-18, and not just aircraft carriers either. But it's the case for fighter aircraft, destroyers, submarines, assault rifles, tanks. Apply that model to literally any new system.