Well, China’s Aircraft Carrier Is Up to Something Interesting
‘Liaoning’ and her escorts are acting as a unit
by DAVE MAJUMDAR
In January 2017, China’s sole carrier Liaoning is operating in the South China Sea with a full-complement of aircraft along with five escorting vessels for the first time.
The vessels have been conducting exercises and testing weaponry at sea in a display of Beijing’s growing military might — causing concern among China’s neighbors.
“The formation, which is on a ‘cross-sea area’ training exercise, involved J-15 fighter jets, as well as several ship-borne helicopters,” the Chinese Defense Ministry stated on its website.
“Complex hydrological and meteorological conditions in the South China Sea as well as a cold front in area have posed some challenges, but the source said the drill provided important experience in the build-up of combat capability of the aircraft carrier formation.”
Video footage from the Chinese exercises look impressive, though such footage always does.
But just because Beijing managed to sail a carrier battle group out into the ocean beyond its local seas does not mean that China has a fully operational carrier capability despite the official assertions to the contrary. The Liaoning’s deployment is a test — a learning experience that Beijing can use to refine its training and procedures.
As one former People’s Liberation Army Navy commander, Chen Yueqi, described, Liaoning’s voyage — along with her escorts — is an important first step in demonstrating that China has the ability to deploy an integrated carrier strike group.
The Chinese will have to validate their command and control, their training and the capability of their ships to operate together, he said.
The Pentagon says in its 2015 report on Chinese military power that Liaoning and its air wing, as currently configured, are not really capable of projecting power over great distances. The ship is too small and is best suited for providing fleet air defense and extending air cover over a fleet operating far from shore.
“The Liaoning will not enable long-range power projection similar to U.S. Nimitz-class carriers,” the report states.
But Liaoning is not really meant to be a match for the U.S. Navy’s supercarriers. China is still the initial stages of learning how to operate jets at sea, but having Liaoning offers Beijing an important learning tool.
It took the U.S. Navy decades — and a lot of blood and treasure — to fully master carrier aviation and it will take China a while to get a hang of it, too.
As such, Liaoning and its battle group are essentially operational test and evaluation assets.
The bottom line is that China is developing a battle group to go to sea with its flattop, but the exercises are about more than just hardware. Beijing has to develop the training and procedures so that the PLAN can operate as a unit at sea — which is what the Chinese appear to be doing.
However, it will take time for the PLAN to get to the level of competency where it can have any real shot at going head-to-head with the U.S. Navy in the Western Pacific. Will they eventually get there? Possibly, but it might take decades.
This article originally appeared at The National Interest.
