Unprecedented foray into the pacific Wow they show the king of the hill their mettle I too believe they tag a long 93III just in case
From Henri K
Too many photo here is the link
What is the Battle Group (GAN) around the Chinese aircraft carrier
Liaoning was the day of Christmas Eve this year? A good seafood meal fished directly from Bohai Bay? The crew offers gifts under a giant tree in the shed? No, the only Chinese aircraft carrier to date has simply crossed the first chain of islands, escorted by several warships of the Chinese Navy, and entered the Western Pacific.
My analysis had led me to predict repeatedly that GAN
Liaoning go into current Pacific by 2018 at the earliest (see the file "
" Of August, for example, ). It is clear that either I have not yet
What is the Battle Group (GAN) around the Chinese aircraft carrier
Liaoning was the day of Christmas Eve this year? A good seafood meal fished directly from Bohai Bay? The crew offers gifts under a giant tree in the shed? No, the only Chinese aircraft carrier to date has simply crossed the first chain of islands, escorted by several warships of the Chinese Navy, and entered the Western Pacific.
My analysis had led me to predict repeatedly that GAN
Liaoning go into current Pacific by 2018 at the earliest (see the file "
" Of August, for example, ). It is clear that either I have not yet sufficiently precisely analyzed the advancements made by the Chinese in the aviation field, or I have misjudged the geopolitical situation in which China now stands.
Anyway, after a first round of training in the Yellow Sea on 23 December, involving sending a dozen fighter
J-15 from
Liaoning as images and videos published, then a second In the center of the East China Sea on Saturday 24 - this time followed by a Japanese ship - the Chinese GAN has indeed crossed the first chain of islands that has been used to contain China for the last 6 decades.
This unique event was confirmed by
.
The Chinese aircraft carrier and its escort ships will now train for the first time since the entry into service of
Liaoning in September 2012, in the Pacific Ocean, probably in the area between the first and second chain 'he is, .
If one believes in
, the Chinese aircraft carrier battle group is composed of several frontline ships, in addition to the aircraft carrier
Liaoning . We count :
- 2 destroyers Type 052C - the 151 Zhengzhou of the Eastern fleet and 171 Haikou South fleet
- 1 destroyer Type 052D - the 173 Changsha South fleet
- 2 frigates Type 054A - the 538 Yantai and 547 Linyi , both of the Northern Fleet
- 1 corvette anti-submarine warfare Type 056A - the 594 Zhuzhou South fleet
- 1 supply tanker Type 903A - the 966 Gaoyouhu fleet Eastern
The composition of this group is rather interesting, on the one hand by its "mixture" of the ships coming from the three different Chinese fleets which are not used to being affected together, and on the other hand by its completeness with Destroyers of anti-aircraft dominance, and frigates and corvettes more oriented to anti-submarine warfare, all complemented by a refueling capacity at sea, plus at least 13 fighter jets and several helicopters.
Although this is not mentioned - not in Chinese or Japanese releases report - but it is not excluded that nuclear submarines Chinese attack, the type 09III for example, also be part of the GAN for this The first entry into the Western Pacific of the Chinese aircraft carrier.
The Liaoning aircraft carrier photographed by a Japanese ship in the East China Sea (Source: Japan Joint Staff)
The aircraft carrier Liaoning left with at least 13 J-15 fighter jets and several helicopters on board
The destroyer 171 Haikou of Type 052C
The destroyer 151 Zhengzhou of Type 052C
The destroyer 173 Changsha of Type 052D
The frigate 538 Yantai of Type 054A
The frigate 547 Linyi of Type 054A
The corvette ASW 594 Zhuzhou of Type 056A
The precise objective of this first crossing of the Chinese GAN in the Western Pacific remains unknown to date, but it should be noted that Admiral HU Sheng Li, Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Navy, -avions
Liaoning December 23, a day before the group broke through the first island chain.
Given the "youth" of the Chinese naval air force, it is unlikely that this event will be a demonstration of forces that the media like to evoke. In the short to medium term, it is virtually certain that the Chinese navy will not directly use its first GANs to confront, for example, those of the US Navy - many other more effective means exist today in the arsenal Chinese.
One could, however, reconstruct a certain logic in the succession of the last maneuvers of the Chinese carrier, to understand what the Chinese try to do in the Western Pacific with this carrier group.
Recall that GAN
Liaoning conducted in late November, his first year with live fire (see the file "
') in the Bohai Bay, where the onboard air forces and ships of Escort simulated together anti-aircraft defense and also anti-ship operations.
We learn in stories of the past two days that "
all the J-15 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier were sent " during training on 23 December (see the video below), refueling operations In-flight between the J-15s were carried out, and the Air-Air combat simulations carried out.
A J-15 with pod UPAZ-1A for Buddy-Buddy refueling under the belly
Finally, before crossing the "gateway" of the Western Pacific, GAN conducted an "integral training" in the East China Sea on December 24th. Also note that the air forces of the eastern fleet led an aerial confrontation exercise between "
a few dozen aircraft" , and the place is also located in the East China Sea.
We deduce that, first, the Chinese navy seems to be conducting a validation campana to check the "resistance" of its very young carrier group. And secondly, the objective would be to check whether the crew set is ready to step out of the first stage of basic skills acquisition before moving on to the next stage and more complex operations in a field test " full-scale ".
In other words, a "final examination" after four years of apprenticeship, to know if the first Chinese GAN is able to defend itself and to maneuver, as necessary minimum, on the high seas.
Given the autonomy of the Chinese aircraft carrier and the capacity of the group's only tanker, this training campaign in the Pacific may be short-lived, with a maximum of one week.
Before drawing sensational conclusions too quickly from a "journalistic" point of view, it is necessary to remain attentive to the continuation of the official declarations which might provide other interesting details.
To be continued ...
Henri K.
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