Liaoning Ship Returns to Western Pacific, Ten Years of Transformation into "Far Sea Sharp Blade"

[Global Times Report, Reporter Guo Yuandan] The "People's Navy" WeChat official account announced on the 14th that the navy organized the Liaoning aircraft carrier group to conduct training in relevant waters of the Western Pacific. This is the second time this year that the Liaoning has gone to the Western Pacific for long-range training. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Liaoning's first long-range training in the Western Pacific since its commissioning in late December 2016. Military experts interviewed by the Global Times stated that the Liaoning's ten-year journey into the open sea is not only a transformation from a "near-sea pioneer" to a "far-sea sharp blade," but also a vivid reflection of the Chinese navy's transition from near-sea defense to far-sea defense strategy.

On the 14th, Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff Office also announced that on the 13th, the Liaoning aircraft carrier group passed through the waters between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island, sailing southeast. According to photos released by the Japanese side, the Liaoning aircraft carrier group includes not only the Liaoning but also two Type 055 destroyers, the Anshan and Wuxi, as well as one Type 052D destroyer, the Huainan.

Regarding the Liaoning's long-range training with two Type 055 destroyers, military expert Zhang Junsha analyzed to the Global Times reporter on the 15th that this "double 055" formation model aims to comprehensively test and enhance the carrier group's long-range comprehensive combat capabilities, reflecting the inevitable evolution of the Chinese navy's carrier group training and tactics.

Zhang Junsha believes that the Liaoning's "double 055" formation model has three main functions. First, it allows for tactical verification and optimization of the formation. The Liaoning has previously had instances of a double 055 formation going to sea, such as in December 2022 and June 2025. "This indicates that the 'double 055' cooperative tactics have been validated multiple times and are gradually becoming standard for carrier groups, helping to optimize the mode and capability of cooperative operations." Second, this model helps achieve complementary combat power. The Western Pacific maritime area has complex sea conditions, and the carrier's long-range training faces severe environmental challenges. The two Type 055 destroyers can form a "one attack, one defense" cooperative posture: one advances ahead of the formation, responsible for "clearing the way" and conducting long-range strikes; the other is positioned at the rear or flank of the formation, providing close-range air defense and missile defense protection for the carrier. Meanwhile, the carrier provides air cover and early warning support for the advancing 055, thus achieving integrated sea and air cooperative operations. Third, this model can enhance system integration capabilities. By organizing different Type 055 destroyers and the carrier for integrated training, it can comprehensively test the command communication, information sharing, and firepower coordination capabilities between the ships and the carrier, accumulating practical experience for the future formation of more complex carrier strike groups.

In late December 2016, the Liaoning first sailed out of the "first island chain" for long-range training in the Western Pacific after its commissioning. Over the past ten years, the Liaoning aircraft carrier group has completed the transition from "training ship" to "combat ship" to "core of the carrier group." In recent years, the Liaoning's long-range training in the Western Pacific has become routine. Except for upgrades and maintenance in 2023, the Liaoning has conducted two long-range operations beyond the "island chain" in 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025. Notably, in June 2025, the Liaoning also achieved the first dual aircraft carrier operational training of the Chinese navy in the Western Pacific with the Shandong.

"Conducting long-range training twice a year indicates that the Chinese carrier group’s training in the Western Pacific has now shown institutionalized and operational characteristics, reflecting a deeper level of the steady improvement of the Chinese navy's far-sea defense capabilities and the continuous enhancement of monitoring capabilities in far-sea areas," Zhang Junsha stated.

According to experts, over the past ten years of long-range training, the Liaoning has developed from a training platform into the core of far-sea system operations. Its carrier group possesses comprehensive offensive and defensive combat capabilities in the open sea. Zhang Junsha analyzed that, first, it has all-weather, all-time operational capabilities for carrier-based aircraft. The Liaoning's carrier-based aircraft takeoff and landing capabilities have achieved a qualitative leap, successfully breaking through the limitations of night operations and operations under complex weather conditions, thus possessing all-weather, all-time operational capabilities. With the testing of the J-35 stealth carrier-based aircraft, the Liaoning is achieving a transition from fourth-generation to fifth-generation aircraft, forming a three-dimensional firepower network with a combination of high and low capabilities, significantly enhancing air superiority and strike effectiveness against sea and land targets. Second, it has systematic joint operational capabilities. The formation possesses strong regional air defense, anti-ship, anti-submarine, and long-range land strike capabilities, and can achieve information interconnectivity with land-based aviation, rocket forces, early warning aircraft, etc., forming a systematic far-sea operational capability.