China’s aircraft carrier forces strengthened as navy shifts assets, US report says
- By the middle of this year, the PLA Navy had transferred most of its aviation units to the air force
- The realignment allows the Chinese navy to transition to a ‘more carrier-centric force’, according to US report
China’s navy has completed the transfer of most of its aviation units to the air force, a move that US Air Force experts said will allow the navy to focus more attention on its aircraft carriers.
According to a study published on Monday by the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) under the Air University, a professional military education university system under the US Air Force, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) began transferring its navy’s aviation units to the air force early this year, including fighter jets, bombers, and radar, air defence and airfield units.
So far, at least three fighter brigades, two bomber regiments, three radar brigades, three air defence brigades, and airfield stations that had operated under the PLA Navy are now part of the air force.
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The CASI report said the transfers are part of an effort to modernise a joint command for air-based maritime strike capabilities and unify all defensive air operations under theatre command air forces instead of splitting them between two theatre services.
“By divesting themselves of thousands of billets, multiple pieces of infrastructure, and numerous airframes, the PLAN is now free to pursue a more carrier-centric force within the constraints of its current level of resourcing.”
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China has two operational aircraft carriers. The Liaoning is a modified Soviet Kuznetsov-class carrier that was commissioned in 2012. The Shandong, China’s first domestically-built carrier, went into service in 2019.
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Last year, China launched its most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which is undergoing sea trials. The vessel features an electromagnetic catapult system that allows planes to launch more frequently and carry more fuel and munitions, compared to the ski jump-style ramps of its two predecessors.
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State-owned Global Times said the carrier could soon “embark on its second far sea voyage beyond the ‘first island chain’” – a reference to islands and archipelagos just beyond the coastlines of East Asia, where the US Navy patrols.
In April, the Shandong had passed through Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines on its first voyage to the western Pacific, where it conducted anti-submarine, joint-fire strikes and regional air control exercises.
