The carrier strike group led by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy warship Liaoning on December 7 began training flights in the Pacific Ocean, after the ships passed through waters off Japan’s southernmost prefecture of Okinawa. Takeoff and landing drills from the aircraft carrier were the first to be confirmed in waters near Japan in several months, and have been speculated to have been initiated in response to a rise in tensions between the two countries. J-15 fighters operating from the Liaoning reportedly formed radar locks on Japanese F-15 fighters over international waters southeast of Okinawa twice on December 6, marking an unprecedented development in relations between the two neighbours. Tensions recently rose after Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, threatened to intervene militarily in the ongoing conflict between the People’s Republic of China on the Chinese mainland, and the Republic of China based on Taiwan, which have for decades remained in a state of civil war.
The Liaoning’s current operations have raised questions regarding how capable its carrier group would be in facing the Japan Air Self Defence Force in the event of a major conflict. The warship and its sister carrier the Shandong have on multiple occasions demonstrated the ability to launch rapid sorties near major. In May 2022, for example, the Liaoning launched over 100 sorties near American military facilities in Okinawa. In April the following year the Shandongled major exercises near Guam. The Liaoning has been accompanied in its recent operations by the Type 055 class destroyer Nanchang, and two smaller Type 052D destroyers with hull numbers 117 and 124.
The Type 055 is widely considered the most capable class of surface combatant in the world, with a report from the British think tank IISS highlighting to this effect that the ship represented “a step change in PLAN [PLA Navy] abilities to mount independent long-range deployments or task-group operations,” and “may be the most capable multi-role surface combatant currently at sea.” The Type 055’s capabilities have continued to be rapidly improved, and in April 2022 a destroyer made its first test launch of the new YJ-21 hypersonic ballistic missile, which is currently considered the most potent anti-ship missile type deployed by warships anywhere in the world.
The Type 055 has a primary armaments suite of 112 vertical launch cells, which integrates a multi-layered surface-to-air missiles network that includes the HHQ-9B with a 300 kilometre engagement range. The use of a dual band radar system similar to those the U.S. Navy had intended but failed to integrate onto the Zumwalt class destroyer provides a particularly high degree of situational awareness to the strike group, including over-the-horizon detection capabilities. The ship’s considerable anti-aircraft firepower is supplemented by the smaller arsenals of Type 052D class destroyers, which carry the same weapons systems, and specialised sensors well optimised to tracking stealth targets. The powerful sensors carried by Chinese destroyers complement those deployed by new J-15B fighters that form the Liaoning’s combat air wing.
J-15B fighters use advanced AESA radars that are among the largest carried by any fighter types in the world, around two and three times the sizes of radars carried by Japanese F-15s and F-35s respectively. Operating with support from J-15D electronic attack aircraft that can shield formations from detection, and alongside the destroyer fleet, the fighters in the Liaoning’s air wing is expected to be able to hold their own against Japan’s fighter fleet at sea, which is comprised primarily of obsolete variants of the F-15 and ageing F-2 fighters, supported by only a limited number of modern F-35s. The recent phasing out of the J-15 and its replacement with the J-15B and J-15D has been a game changer for the Liaoning’s power projection capabilities, complementing major recent advances in Chinese destroyer capabilities.