The Liaoning carrier group, which includes many destroyers, will conduct realistic training in the Western Pacific.
Liaoning Carrier Group Hold Drills in the Western Pacific
The PLA armada, dubbed the most fearsome Liaoning carrier group to date by Chinese state media, is expected to host several legitimate training drills outside the first island chain, noted the Global Times.
Such training would improve its ability to defend territorial and national sovereignty and advance interests.
In a press release published on Friday, Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff noticed that they had sighted a PLA Navy flotilla consisting of the aircraft carrier Liaoning and several ships, as mentioned by the Japan MoD.
The department asserted that somewhere between December 15 and 16, the PLA armada set sail from the East China Sea, through the Miyako Strait, and onto the West Pacific, reported EurAsian Times.
Before all this, Japan clarified that the Type 055 big destroyer Lhasa, the Type 052D destroyer Kaifeng, and the Type 903A replenishment ship Taihu had journeyed from the East China Sea across the Osumi Strait into the West Pacific.
During the same time, the Sovremenny-class destroyer Taizhou and a PLA Navy electronic reconnaissance ship with hull number 796 left the East China Sea and joined the West Pacific via the Miyako Strait.
It is still being determined if the above-mentioned vessels belong to the carrier group. Nevertheless, Chinese analysts speculated that this might be the Liaoning carrier group's most powerful configuration to date, given the extraordinary number of Type 055-class large warships.
There was previously only one Type 055 featured in the group, but presently there are three of those ships in the establishment.
Tension Could Rise in the Western Pacific
Song Zhongping, a Chinese military analyst and TV commentator, informed the Global Times that the Liaoning aircraft carrier group is supposedly participating in a regular training exercise in which the group's naval vessels would perform synchronized maneuvers and consolidated operations in addition to carrier-based fighter jet takeoffs and landings.
The group may have nuclear-powered submarines, as said Song. He contended that Type 055 large destroyers are the finest escorts for Chinese aircraft carriers.
The operation was the Chinese carrier's longest and most rigorous training in the area, including over 300 aircraft sorties in almost 20 days.
However, the carrier group passed through Miyako Strait on December 16, which occurred to be the day Japan embraced a national action plan.
Under the new military policy, the nation plans to purchase cruise missiles and preemptive attack capabilities to give it a more aggressive stance against "dangers" from China.
Song said the PLA should start increasing its military readiness to manage emergencies as Japan tries to reconfigure its defensive line plans and expand the size of its military services.
The Liaoning carrier group seen with many destroyers in the Western Pacific is a sign to the US that PLA will be ready for it.
