항모 2척이 동시에 활동하는 모습을 공개한 중국 해군

[위종민]

중국 인민해방군 해군의 항모 CNS 랴오닝과 CNS 샨동이 남중국해에서 동시에 활동하는 모습을 중국이 공개했네요. J-15 12기, 수상함 11척도 같은 사진에 찍혀 있습니다. 

VIDEO: 2 Chinese Aircraft Carriers Drill Together for the First Time in South China Sea - USNI News

VIDEO: 2 Chinese Aircraft Carriers Drill Together for the First Time in South China Sea

Dzirhan Mahadzir

October 31, 2024 3:00 PM

Two Chinese carriers drill in the South China Sea in late October. Chinese MoD Photo

Two People’s Liberation Army Navy aircraft carriers exercised together for the first time in the South China Sea, the People’s Liberation Army reported.

According to photos released by the PLA, Carriers CNS Liaoning (16) and CNS Shandong (17) drilled together, leading the formation with 12 carrier-based J-15 fighters flying overhead and 11 PLAN surface ships.

In a Thursday press conference, Snr. Col. Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, stated that the dual-carrier drill was a part of the PLAN’s annual training plan and aimed at enhancing the combat capability of the PLAN’s carrier strike groups (CSGs).

Although Shandong was commissioned in December 2019, the PLAN did not have its two operational carriers drilling together until this month, likely because it was taking a phased approach in building up the operational capabilities of its carriers.

Liaoning entered into refurbishment in February 2023 and came out of it in March this year. The PLAN has to rely on its own carriers to conduct dual carrier operations given that the Russian Navy’s aircraft carrier RFS Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov (063) is still in overhaul, while the U.S. Navy, French Navy, Indian Navy, Italian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), Spanish Navy and the Royal Navy will not conduct dual carrier operations with the PLAN.

The video showed that cruiser CNS Anshan (103) was part of the formation. Anshan had sailed as part of a three-ship surface action group that followed Liaoning and two destroyer escorts when it entered the Philippine Sea on Sept. 18. The JMSDF sighted the cruiser operating with Liaoning on Oct.1 as the carrier exited the Philippine Sea and entered the South China Sea. The JMSDF later sighted Anshan operating with Liaoning as part of the PLA’s Joint Sword 2024-B drill against Taiwan on Oct. 14.

The Liaoning CSG’s deployment this year marked a change from previous years in which the PLAN CSG would sail through the waters between Miyako Island and Okinawa to enter the Philippine Sea to conduct operations there, and subsequently return home via the same route. This year, however, the Liaoning CSG sailed into the Philippine Sea by transiting the waters between Taiwan and Yonaguni Island and exiting into the South China Sea on Oct. 2. Instead of heading to its homeport, Liaoning went to Hainan and docked pier-side with Shandong.

Subsequently, Liaoning departed for its second deployment to the western Pacific this year where it conducted operations as part of the Joint Sword 2024 drills before exiting the Philippine Sea on Oct. 15. The Liaoning CSG then transited north through the Taiwan Strait on Oct. 23, according to a report issued that day by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense.

The U.S. and its partners have been conducting a number of dual carrier operations in October throughout the globe. The Abraham Lincoln CSG drilled with the Italian Navy’s Cavour CSG in the Middle East while the Cavour CSG had earlier conducted dual CSG drills in the Arabian Sea with the Indian Navy’s Vikramaditya CSG. The Harry S. Truman CSG meanwhile conducted dual CSG operations with the U.K CSG in the North Sea as part of NATO drills.

Related

[백선호]

어느 한 항모가 맞은 경우에 다른 항모에 가서 내리는 cross-decking 훈련도 하고 있겠죠?

[강준구]

그럴싸 해보이긴 합니다. 대잠 방어가 잘 되려나 싶긴 합니다만..