Aircraft carrier Shandong joined by two large destroyers in far seas drill

The picture shows aircraft carrier Shandong berths at a naval port in Sanya. China's first domestically-made aircraft carrier Shandong (Hull 17) was officially commissioned to the PLA Navy at a military port in Sanya, South China's Hainan Province, on the afternoon of December 17, 2019, making China one of the few countries in the world that have multiple carriers. Photo: China Military

Joined by two Type 055 large destroyers and hosting intensive aircraft operations, the Shandongcarrier group of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy displayed full operational capability during the ongoing far seas drill in the West Pacific, experts said on Wednesday.

PLA Navy warships including the aircraft carrier Shandong, two Type 055 large destroyers, two Type 052D destroyers, a Type 054A frigate and a Type 901 comprehensive replenishment ship sailed through West Pacific waters to the south of Japan's southwestern islands, southeast of the island of Taiwan and northeast of the Philippines from July 9 to Monday, according to a press release from Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff on Tuesday.

In these seven days, the carrier Shandonghosted about 240 fighter jet sorties and about 140 helicopters sorties, equally a total of about 380 aircraft sorties, according to a Japanese press release.

Japan first reported the presence of the aircraft carrier Shandongin the West Pacific on July 9, when the group featured only one Type 055 large destroyer, one Type 052D destroyer and one Type 054A frigate at the time.

The Shandong's aircraft sortie rate during the ongoing exercise displayed an increasing level of training intensity, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Japan was able to identify seven warships in the Shandongcarrier group, but there are likely additional forces, particularly those underwater, meaning the Chinese carrier group is a complete one, with full operational capability to fulfill combat duties, Fu said.

Following the deployment of the Shandongnear the Philippines, a Philippine Navy spokesperson claimed that "it will be a long time before they reach the operational level of their aircraft carriers," the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on Sunday.

Fu said that the Philippines does not have an aircraft carrier, and the Philippine Navy's assessments on Chinese aircraft carriers are based on Western analysis.

The Shandong's ongoing exercises showed that China's aircraft carrier program has far exceeded Western predictions, Fu said.

When asked about the Shandong's recent deployment near the Philippines, Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, said on Friday that the Shandongcarrier group's far seas combat exercise is an annually scheduled arrangement that does not target any specific target.

Zhang said that the PLA Navy will regularly hold similar exercises to enhance carrier groups' systematic combat capabilities.

Far seas drills conducted by Chinese aircraft carriers have become routine, and it cannot be ruled out that they will sail to more distant waters and expand China's maritime defense depth, observers said.

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