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    • China’s aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong conduct first dual-carrier exercises in South China Sea
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    China’s aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong conduct first dual-carrier exercises in South China Sea

    Umito Posted on

    The twin-carrier exercise, which involved the new CATOBAR variant of the J-15 for the first time, was part of the PLA Navy’s annual training plan and aimed at improving the systematic combat strength of the carrier strike groups.

    For the first time, the PLA Navy conducted a dual carrier exercise with aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong in the SCS (South China Sea) in the last days of October 2024, the Chinese military announced. The PLAN released images of a massive armada of 13 ships, including the two aircraft carriers, and 12 J-15 jets flying overhead. Other ships included three Type 55 destroyers, three Type 52D destroyers, three Type 54A frigates and two fleet replenishment ships.

    Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson Colonel Zhang Xiaogong said During a press briefing on October 31, the “two-carrier” exercise was part of the Navy’s “annual training plan and aimed at improving the systematic combat strength of carrier strike groups.”

    The Liaoning CSG (Carrier Strike Group) had been functioning at SCS since September 17 and 18. The ship, from September 27 to October 1, conducted approximately 130 takeoffs and landings of carrier-based aircraft and approximately 90 helicopter operations. This represents a total of 220 takeoffs and landings over a period of four to five days.

    Chinese military onlinethe official website of the PLA, indicated that the exercise took place in the middle of a “long distance” exercise of the CNS Liaoning CSG, which crossed the Yellow, the ECS (East China Sea) and the SCS from September to October. Liaoning was joined by CSG from CNS Shandong after joining the SCS.

    The Liaoning group then returned to its home base in Shandong’s Qingdao province, with the Shandong strike force presumably still in the area. This formation can be expected to continue its exercises in the region between the southern part of the ECS and the SCS during this month.

    Shandong is the second aircraft carrier in the PLAN and, like Liaoning, is a STOBAR (Short Take-Off Barrier Arrested) configured ship. The third Chinese carrier, the Fujianis an ordinary flat-topped aircraft, with EMALS (Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System) catapults that allow operations with CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take Off Barrier Arrested Recovery) aircraft.

    A J-15 takes off from the ski ramp. (Image credit: China Military Online)

    The exercise

    The latest exercises have been centered around Liaoning, according to Chinaaimed at “real combat training on the high seas”. The exercises covered “multiple topics in real combat circumstances.” The emphasis on realistic combat scenarios has been a distinctive description attributed to Chinese training and command exercises.

    This began to appear around 2018 in President Xi Jinping’s book. exhortation to the Chinese army to “strengthen real combat training and improve its ability to win the war.” This was then repeated in subsequent exercises when the PLA was in the middle of a standoff with the Indian Army in eastern Ladakh, at the height of military tensions between China and its Himalayan neighbor.

    Xi’s message urging troops to train in “realistic combat scenarios” also came at a time of simultaneous strategic tensions with the United States in the Western Pacific. This can, however, be seen as a dramatic expression conveying a signal of war preparedness and deterrence to the US-led alliance. All armies include important elements in their exercises which represent real operational and tactical war scenarios.

    Videos broadcast by Chinese buglethe official handle of the PLA News Media Center, showed The J-15s take offa Harbin Z-9 naval multirole utility helicopter landing on the deck of what could possibly be the Type 054A frigate Huangshan. The Huangshan and a Dalian Type 055 destroyer also received replenishment at sea from the Type 903A supply ship Loumau. It can be assumed that the refueling took place on the same day that the carriers sailed together.

    The J-15B CATOBAR side

    In the photos, the Shandong carries a complement of 18 J-15s, with possibly more below deck and none seen on the Liaoning. This could mean that the 12 J-15s flying over are from CNS Shandong.

    Leading Chinese military researcher Andreas Rupprechtnoted an interesting detail, however, since the J-15s appear to be the new “B” variant, the CATOBAR J-15B developed specifically to operate from the Fujian aircraft carrier. The new variant, in fact, has been equipped with a reinforced front landing gear and a launch bar to be able to operate from carriers equipped with catapults.

    Another distinctive feature of the old J-15, which makes the J-15B recognizable in these new photos, is the absence of a colored nose cone, as the aircraft now features an entirely gray paint scheme. However, two J-15s flying in formation sport the darker nose cone, so the aircraft in flight could be a mix of J-15A and J-15B. A mixture of the two variants is also visible on Shandong, with at least six J-15Bs.

    The J-15 is a heavily reverse-engineered and modified Chinese derivative of the Russian Su-33 carrier-based fighter and, like the Su-30, it sports forward-swept canards under the cockpit. It was as good a plane as a Taiwanese F-16V captured on his ATP Sniper (Advanced Targeting Pod), when China launched the Common Sword-202B exercises around Taiwan in mid-October.

    A close-up front view of the Liaoning carrier. (Image credit: China Military Online)

    Exercise Objectives

    The primary military objective is to refine the ability of its sailors and pilots to operate in the harsh environments of carrier-based naval aviation and to bring their skills to a level comparable to that of Western navies. The political intent is to signal to the United States China’s growing military capabilities in its waters and to assert its territorial objectives militarily. But dual-carrier exercises also embody a specific maritime objective, since the U.S. Navy has also conducted dual-carrier exercises in the past in the Western Pacific.

    In February 2021CSGs USS Theodore Roosevel and USS Nimitz jointly held exercises near Chinese-controlled islands in the SCS. The US Navy said at the time: “The CSGs have conducted a multitude of exercises aimed at increasing interoperability between assets as well as command and control capabilities. » This is the second dual-carrier operation in the controversial waters since July 2020, according to Reuters.

    During the 2021 financial years, NICU said the USN “did not see any abnormal response from China” when the exercise was underway. The report quotes Carrier Strike Group 9 Commander, Rear Admiral Doug Verissimo: “We did not see anything significantly unusual when our two carriers came together for this rendezvous. » Beijing thus demonstrates the ability of its navy to operate like the American navy.

    Umito
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