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Recently, the Chinese Navy's Shandong aircraft carrier formation has been conducting regular offshore combat training, which has attracted much attention. In particular, Japan has dispatched ships and aircraft to closely track and monitor the Shandong aircraft carrier formation, saying that the aircraft carrier arrived in the Philippine Sea and carried out 240 fighter takeoffs and landings.

According to a report by the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) on July 16, the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong has carried out as many as 240 fighter flight missions in the Philippine Sea. USNI cited a report from the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Ministry of Defense that the Chinese Navy's Shandong aircraft carrier formation arrived in the Philippine Sea and carried out 240 fighter take-off and landing missions and 140 helicopter take-off and landing missions in a week. The aircraft carrier is still active in the Philippine Sea.

The Japanese Self-Defense Forces filmed a carrier-based aircraft taking off from the Shandong aircraft carrier

The Japanese Joint Staff Office said that the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force dispatched the Murasame-class destroyer Akebono (DD-108), the Kongo-class destroyer Kirishima (DDG-174) and the Abukuma-class frigate Jintsu (DE-230) to track and monitor the Chinese Navy's aircraft carrier formation. USNI speculated that the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships may have tracked the Chinese aircraft carrier formation in a rotating deployment manner, rather than the three ships acting at the same time.

In addition, on July 9, when the Shandong aircraft carrier formation was first spotted, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force also urgently launched fighter jets to respond to the carrier-based fighter jets that took off from the Shandong. In the location diagram released by the Japanese side, the Shandong aircraft carrier formation was mainly active in the east of the Bashi Channel.

USNI reported that the Shandong's deployment to the Philippine Sea was the first deployment of the aircraft carrier this year. In 2023, Chinese aircraft carriers visited the Philippine Sea three times, including a 19-day deployment in April, a 5-day deployment in September, and a 12-day deployment from late October to early November.

According to public data, this is the fourth time that the Shandong aircraft carrier formation has been observed breaking through the "island chain" and entering the Pacific Ocean. The Shandong aircraft carrier was handed over and commissioned in Sanya, Hainan at the end of 2019. In April 2023, the Shandong aircraft carrier entered the waters of the Western Pacific for the first time for long-distance training. At that time, Reuters reported that the aircraft carrier formation composed of China's first domestically-produced aircraft carrier Shandong crossed the Bashi Channel and passed through the southeast waters of Taiwan Island to conduct its first Western Pacific training. In addition, according to statistics from the Japanese Joint Staff Office in April last year, the Japanese side recorded a total of 620 take-offs and landings of carrier-based fighters and helicopters in the Shandong aircraft carrier formation at that time.

Chinese Navy Shandong aircraft carrier

In addition, according to a report by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post on July 15, when asked about the appearance of the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong in the Philippine Sea, Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Trini said that the People's Liberation Army still lacks experience and "needs decades" to improve its aircraft carrier combat capabilities. Judging from the fact that the Shandong carried out 240 fighter take-off and landing missions in a week, this is undoubtedly a slap in the face of the Philippine Navy spokesman.

Compared with the previous aircraft carrier formation's long-distance training, there are several points in this action of the Shandong ship formation that deserve our attention.

First, on July 10, Taiwanese media also paid attention to the dynamics of the Shandong aircraft carrier formation entering the Pacific Ocean southeast of Taiwan. Taiwanese media reported that since the evening of the 9th, the People's Liberation Army has dispatched 26 military aircraft for joint exercises, of which 36 crossed the so-called "median line of the strait" and its extension line, passing through the southern and southeastern airspace of Taiwan to the Western Pacific, "cooperating with the Shandong aircraft carrier to carry out sea and air joint training."

Moreover, during the Shandong aircraft carrier formation's voyage through the Bashi Channel to the Philippine Sea east of Taiwan, although the Taiwan Defense Department still "toughened" and claimed to be fully aware of the PLA's actions, its "slow" response also triggered complaints from the Taiwanese media. On July 9, Taiwanese media quoted a message posted on social media by retired Taiwanese naval officer Lu Lishi, saying that according to a notice issued by the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Ministry of Defense at 18:00 on the 9th, the Shandong aircraft carrier formation had arrived at the waters about 520 kilometers southeast of Miyako Island at 7:00 a.m. that day, and until around 8:00 p.m. on the 9th, the Taiwan Defense Department had not released any news about the Shandong ship.

The movement of the Shandong aircraft carrier formation released by the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Ministry of Defense

Second, compared with the previous Shandong aircraft carrier formation's far sea training, during this training, the number and composition of the Shandong aircraft carrier formation did not remain unchanged, but underwent dynamic adjustments. According to a report from the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, on July 9, the formation consisted of four ships, including the Shandong aircraft carrier, the Type 055 destroyer Yan'an, the Type 052D destroyer Guilin, and the Type 054A frigate Yuncheng; on July 12 and 13, the number of ships in the formation became seven, including the Shandong aircraft carrier, two Type 055 destroyers (Yan'an and Xianyang), two Type 052D destroyers (Guilin and Zhanjiang), and one Type 054A frigate Yuncheng. Type 901 frigate (Yuncheng), and one Type 901 comprehensive supply ship (905 Chagan Lake); on July 14, it became a formation of four ships. Unlike the combination of one aircraft carrier, one 055 destroyer, one 052D destroyer and one 054A frigate on July 9, it became a combination of one aircraft carrier, one 055 destroyer and two 052D destroyers; on July 15, it was restored to the same 7-ship formation as on the 12th and 13th.

This also reflects that the training of the Shandong aircraft carrier formation this time may be very different from the past, and there may be new training courses or it may be closer to actual combat. However, for the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, who have always been keen on taking pictures of Chinese ships and aircraft, they should be getting more and more "accustomed" to the Chinese Navy's large-scale formation training in the far sea.

Third, foreign media reported at the end of June that the Shandong aircraft carrier appeared in the waters 200 nautical miles (about 360 kilometers) from the coast of the Philippines. The Shandong aircraft carrier's action was just after the conflict between China and the Philippines in the waters near Ren'ai Reef in mid-June. Foreign media also interpreted the Shandong aircraft carrier's appearance near the Philippines as a "deterrent" to the Philippines. However, judging from the Shandong ship's previous training plan, this Shandong ship's action was a normal training. Last year, the Shandong aircraft carrier set a record of three Chinese aircraft carriers going out to the "island chain" for far sea training in a year. At that time, Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said: "The Chinese military will organize similar training activities on a regular basis."

At present, China's aircraft carriers have already normalized their far sea training in the South China Sea and the Western Pacific, which is also required by the combat requirements of aircraft carriers as the core force of maritime defense. In response to the foreign media's hype about the Shandong ship appearing near the Philippine coast, the Ministry of National Defense spokesman Zhang Xiaogang also responded: The Shandong ship formation went to the relevant waters for far sea combat training, which is an annual routine arrangement, in line with international law and international practice, and is not aimed at any specific target. In the future, the Chinese Navy will regularly organize similar exercises to continuously improve the combat capability of the aircraft carrier formation system.