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Enoch Wong

China’s second active aircraft carrier Shandong achieved “all-weather” combat capacity in the year 2024, while cutting the time needed for jet deployment, according to state news agency Xinhua.
It also said the vessel had recently returned to port after concluding its final maritime training mission for the year.
“Compared to its early days, the carrier has significantly reduced aircraft launch preparation times, improved consecutive sortie readiness, and achieved round-the-clock all-weather operational capability in complex conditions,” Xinhua said in a report on Tuesday.
The report highlighted the warship’s critical role in the Joint Sword exercises around Taiwan, held since April 2023, including a 13-hour drill in October focused on sea-and air-combat readiness and port blockades.




The October exercise by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) saw fighter jets launched from the Shandong as it operated east of Taiwan, mainland state media previously reported.
Later that month, the warship also took part in the PLA Navy’s first dual-carrier exercises in the South China Sea, as it operated alongside the Liaoning, the PLA Navy’s first aircraft carrier.
The Shandong had transitioned from coastal operations to distant sea missions and from structural system-based to joint-force training, “using open oceans as its training ground”, Xinhua said on Tuesday.
The vessel’s first far-seas deployment beyond the so-called first island chain was in April 2023.
This was followed by missions in September and November the same year that included record-breaking aircraft sortie rates and operations near Guam, a US island territory.
“The increase in training with Shandong demonstrates the PLA’s capabilities further from the PRC’s borders and into the Philippine Sea,” the Pentagon said in its China Military Power Report released last month.
Launched in 2017 and officially in service since December 2019, the Shandong is China’s first domestically built and outfitted conventionally powered aircraft carrier. It followed the Liaoning, a refitted Soviet-made vessel, which was commissioned in 2012.
The PLA fleet’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, completed its first three sea trials last summer.


Observers have compared the Shandong with the US Navy’s lead ship and newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford. It was christened in 2013 and commissioned in 2017 under Donald Trump’s first presidential term.
Despite its advanced design, the Ford was declared to have met its “initial operating capability” only in 2022 – nearly a decade after its launch – with US media citing high maintenance costs and challenges throughout post-delivery testing and trials.
The Pentagon’s latest report noted that China “has the largest navy in the world with a battle force of over 370 ships and submarines, including more than 140 major surface combatants”.
“Chinese ship production dwarfs that of the United States,” the Washington-based Centre for Strategic & International Studies said in June.
US naval intelligence office reports say that Chinese shipyards are vastly more productive, with dozens exceeding the scale and efficiency of the largest US shipyards.
The office recently assessed that China had 232 times the shipbuilding capacity of the US, enabling faster repairs and replacements.
Tuesday’s Xinhua report also emphasised the contributions of the Shandong’s crew, saying it had collaborated with researchers to resolve over 100 operational challenges and make numerous technical advancements.
The crew’s commitment to cross-speciality training had produced a pool of multi-role-qualified sailors, including elite leaders, technical specialists and logistical experts, the report said.


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News

China

Military

Warship achieved ‘all-weather operational capability in complex conditions’, Xinhua year-end report says, highlights role in Taiwan drills


Warship achieved ‘all-weather operational capability in complex conditions’, Xinhua year-end report says, highlights role in Taiwan drills.


China’s aircraft carriers