军情时间到丨山东舰首出西太三周年 中国航母远海训练历程回顾

First Aircraft Carrier Liaoning: First Voyage Beyond the First Island Chain

On September 25, 2012, the Liaoning officially joined the People's Navy, hull number 16. From this day forward, the Chinese people had their own aircraft carrier.

From December 2016 to January 2017, the Liaoning carrier group achieved significant breakthroughs. It first conducted actual weapon exercises, performing air-to-air and air-to-surface drills in the Bohai Sea. Subsequently, the Liaoning led a distant sea training group through the Miyako Strait, entering the Western Pacific and South China Sea, marking the first time the Liaoning conducted training beyond the First Island Chain since its commissioning.

On June 25, 2017, the Liaoning carrier group set sail from Qingdao to carry out cross-regional maneuver training, lasting 22 days. The carrier group navigated through the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea, covering a total distance of over 4,600 nautical miles. While the Liaoning continuously set new records for distant sea training, China's first domestically produced aircraft carrier also officially embarked on its distant sea journey.

Shandong Carrier Distant Sea Exercises: From Solo Operations to Joint Strikes

From April to May 2023, the Shandong carrier group made its first systematic and large-scale deployment to the Western Pacific, participating in combat readiness patrols around Taiwan and the "Joint Sword" exercise. The Shandong carrier group closely coordinated with the forward-deployed naval and air forces, with J-15 carrier-based aircraft taking off in succession, rapidly establishing a combat system for the carrier group in the exercise area. The transition from single carrier operations to dual carrier joint strikes signifies the increasing maturity of the Chinese Navy's carrier operations, with its system combat capabilities entering a new phase.

In October 2024, the Liaoning and Shandong carrier groups will conduct their first dual carrier group exercises.

In June 2025, the Liaoning and Shandong carrier groups will shift operations to the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, and Western Pacific, coordinating with relevant military branches to organize mutual conditions and adversarial practical combat. This follows last year's first joint exercise of dual carrier groups, marking another instance of the two carrier groups conducting system confrontation exercises in the distant sea.