appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

William Zheng

Chinese aircraft carriers have undergone intensive far-sea training to forge strong combat readiness, carrying out dozens of “train-as-you-fight” drills beyond the island chains and ramping up the frequency of aircraft launches.
The revelation was just one detail in a PLA Daily article last week that shed light on the training activities of China’s three aircraft carriers – a subject that the People’s Liberation Army has previously guarded closely.
The details come less than two weeks after China put its biggest and most sophisticated aircraft carrier, the Fujian, into active service, marking a major step in Beijing’s ambition to modernise its navy to challenge the United States in the Asia-Pacific and beyond.


China’s first carrier, the Liaoning, entered service in 2012 and conducted its first training in the western Pacific – indicating the crossing of the first island chain – in December 2016.
The article said the Liaoning had conducted “train-as-you-fight” drills more than 10 times beyond the first island chain, which stretches from Okinawa through to Taiwan and the Philippines.
The article also clarified that the Liaoning – which was refurbished and upgraded from the unfinished Soviet carrier Varyag that China bought from Ukraine in 1998 – was not a “training ship” or “experimental ship” as online commenters had thought.
“From the moment it was commissioned, its purpose has been combat readiness. Aircraft have long been fully deployed on the carrier and we have taken routine far-sea combat readiness training. In 2024 alone, the [Liaoning’s] voyages [added up to] nearly 30,000 nautical miles,” Zhang Hongyang, a navigation officer on the vessel, was quoted as saying.
The PLA Navy ramped up training efforts after the second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, was commissioned in 2019 as part of efforts to break through the first island chain.
In June, the Liaoning and Shandong carriers operated beyond the second island chain in the western Pacific together for the first time, reaching waters near Japan’s easternmost islands and as far as 965km (600 miles) northeast of Guam, the US’ westernmost territory.
The drills were different in operations and strategic messaging from China’s first dual carrier exercise conducted in October last year, which mainly took place in the South China Sea, with additional manoeuvres in the Yellow and East China seas.
“The carriers will need to venture further in their training in unfamiliar environments, including the western Pacific, central Pacific, the Indian Ocean and even further, given China’s growing interests in Asia, Africa and Latin America,” Song Zhongping, a Chinese military commentator and former PLA instructor, told the Post.




The report also noted advances in flights from the carriers.
Wei Lanke, an officer in the Shandong aircraft carrier’s take-off and landing support squadron, said the ship, which was China’s first domestically built carrier, had made substantial progress as the “unimaginable” launch frequency and number of sorties launched in the past two years was “several times” that of the previous four years.
Tian Wei, an officer from the Fujian’s aviation support department, was also quoted as saying the vessel’s electromagnetic catapult launched the J-35, J-15T and KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft at the first attempt, and had since successfully completed “dozens more launches”.
The success was based on “tens of thousands of land-based simulation exercises and ejection tests with mass vehicles, as well as countless hours of hard work and overtime”, Tian said.
The navy said in September that the three types of aircraft had completed catapult launch and arrested landing tests on the carrier. The J-35 is the world’s second carrier-based stealth fighter after Lockheed Martin’s F-35 series.
The report last week also said the selection of aircraft carrier crew was extremely competitive as the navy wanted the “best of the best” from the more than 100 navy units operating surface vessels, naval aviation, submarines, marines and coastal defence forces.
Yu Lihao, an officer on the Fujian carrier told the PLA Daily there were more than 50 officers and soldiers on the ship with prior experience serving on the other two carriers.


China’s military catch-up efforts have started to pay off in recent years amid the heightened rivalry with the US, according to analysts.
The US has repeatedly warned of China’s growing military prowess and called for efforts to consolidate US defence superiority.
James Holmes, a faculty fellow of the University of Georgia’s school of public and international affairs, said the US was not idle in the stealth air-combat realm and that the US Congress had mandated that future ships in the Ford class – with the John F. Kennedy due next – be delivered to the fleet capable of operating stealth fighters. Holmes said the Ford itself had to be retrofitted.
He said the bigger challenge for the US to counter China in the western Pacific was to “keep US alliances firm”.
“That’s a political task, but it also involves things like merging the US and allied shipbuilding industrial base, working together on aircraft technology, and so forth,” he said.
“I have argued we should acquire Japanese or Korean diesel subs and permanently forward-station them in the region. Such workmanlike endeavours mean we all have skin in the game of our common cause. They depend on us; we depend on them. That’s a solid basis for standing together in stressful times.”


Beijing boosts Taiwan-facing firepower with brigade-level 155mm howitzer deployment

China-Egypt joint drills a show of Beijing’s military reach

Export potential? Chinese YY-20 refuels Egyptian Rafale in cross-platform drill

China tests GJ-21 stealth drone as Sichuan Type 076 warship carries out sea trials

China’s military drills

China’s aircraft carriers put to ‘train-as-you-fight’ test beyond island chains

The PLA Daily says the Liaoning aircraft carrier has conducted “train-as-you-fight” drills more than 10 times beyond the first island chain. Photo: Xinhua via AP

How China’s Fujian aircraft carrier deceived US military experts at launch

The Fujian officially entered service on November 5 as China’s third aircraft carrier. Photo: Xinhua

The electromagnetic catapult system of the Fujian is estimated to achieve 270 to 300 launches per day, enabling the formation of larger and more powerful air groups. Photo: CCTV

Days after Fujian launch, images point to work on China’s first nuclear-powered carrier

China’s new Type 004 aircraft carrier is under construction at the Dalian shipyard in the northeastern province of Liaoning. Photo: X/Tokcoslsp

Meet Ma Weiming, the Chinese naval engineering genius behind the Fujian aircraft carrier catapult

Rear Admiral Ma Weiming, as he appeared in 2017 on state television advocating for China to develop an electromagnetic catapult system for its next aircraft carrier. Photo: CCTV

Rear Admiral Ma Weiming pictured at the commissioning of the Fujian, China’s third aircraft carrier. Photo: Weibo/ 黄木木三

How did the Chinese navy train talent for the Fujian aircraft carrier?

President Xi Jinping met Fujian crew members at last week’s commissioning ceremony. Photo: Xinhua

Will China’s new aircraft carrier tilt the power balance in the western Pacific?

China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, was commissioned on Wednesday at a port in Sanya, Hainan province. Photo: Xinhua

News

China

Military

PLA Daily sheds new light on navy’s drills to increase launch frequency and far-sea combat readiness


PLA Daily sheds new light on navy’s drills to increase launch frequency and far-sea combat readiness.


China’s aircraft carriers put to ‘train-as-you-fight’ test beyond island chains

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}PLA Daily sheds new light on navy’s drills to increase launch frequency and far-sea combat readiness

PLA Daily sheds new light on navy’s drills to increase launch frequency and far-sea combat readiness