The picture shows the latest drill of Chinese navy’s aircraft carrier Shandong taskforce. (Photo from the PLA Navy's WeChat official account)
On January 14, the Chinese navy’s aircraft carrier Shandong taskforce conducted a live-fire confrontation drill in the waters of the South China Sea. Song Zhongping, a military expert, said that the aircraft carrier Shandong (Hull 17) has possessed the ability to carry out various combat and support missions in rough sea conditions, demonstrating that the generation path of Chinese aircraft carriers’ support and combat capabilities has been completely standardized.
1月14日，山东舰航母编队在南海海域进行实战化对抗演练。军事专家宋忠平表示，山东舰已具备在高海况、高海情状态下执行多种战斗保障任务的能力，我军航母保障和战斗力生成已经形成完整规范。
During this drill, the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong taskforce carried out in-depth training featuring cross-domain and three-dimensional offensive and defensive combat subjects, involving troops of multiple services in the sea, air and underwater. According to military expert Song Zhongping, there are three highlights worthy of note during the drill, that is, the large number of J-15 fighter jets, the highly difficult night takeoff and landing training, and the live-fire confrontation. As the first domestically-developed aircraft carrier in China, the training level of Shandong has been continuously improved since it was commissioned more than three years ago, and it has already acquired quite high combat capability in a relatively short time.
此次训练中，山东舰编队深入开展海面、空中、水下等多兵种、跨领域、高难度立体攻防作战课目专攻精练。军事专家宋忠平表示，本次山东舰编队训练有三大亮点：一是山东舰搭载的歼-15战机数量多；二是进行了高难度夜间起降训练；三是进行了实战化对抗。通常来讲，航母形成作战能力要比一般作战舰艇花费更长时间。山东舰作为我国第一艘国产航母，入列3年多来训练水平不断提升，在较短时间内已经具备相当高的作战能力。
Military expert Song Zhongping said on January 15 that the South China Sea is a sea area with relatively complex sea conditions. "The training carried out in the South China Sea showed that the aircraft carrier Shandong has possessed the ability to carry out multiple operational tasks under rough sea conditions."
军事专家宋忠平15日表示，南海是一个海情比较特殊的海域，相对来说海情和海况比较复杂，“在南海进行锤炼，说明山东舰已经具备在高海况、高海情的状态下执行多种战斗任务的能力”。
Song Zhongping said that from the news pictures and information released, the aircraft carrier Shandong taskforce possesses the combat support capability both in the daytime and at night during the drill. "This shows that the aircraft carrier Shandong has now had complete combat power and can complete stated tasks in the face of a variety of extremely difficult sea conditions."
宋忠平表示，从公布的新闻图片和信息来看，此次训练过程中，山东舰航母编队无论是在白天还是夜间都具备战斗保障能力。“这表明，我军航母保障和战斗力生成已经形成完整规范，现在山东舰已具备完整战斗力，面对多种极难海况，都能够完成既定目标任务。”
Song Zhongping added that from December 17 to December 31, 2022, the aircraft carrier Liaoning taskforce carried out far-sea training in the western Pacific Ocean. "The aircraft carrier Liaoning carried out exercises in the western Pacific region, and so did the aircraft carrier Shandong in the South China Sea. They are certain to conduct joint training to play an even greater role in the near future", he thought.
此次公布的图片没有显示山东舰航母编队中属舰具体细节，但作为航母战斗群，必然有其他驱护舰的配备，“因此毫无疑问，航母和编队舰艇之间的协同配合能力也在不断增强，让整个航母编队具备强大的作战能力”。宋忠平表示，2022年12月17日至31日期间，辽宁舰航母编队在西太平洋进行了远海训练，“辽宁舰在西太地区进行演练，山东舰在南海地区进行演练，那么未来也必然会实现双舰合璧，共同演练”。
Editor's note: Originally published on opinion.haiwainet.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
