In recent days, an image circulating in Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) sources shows the Liaoning aircraft carrier of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of China navigating as part of a new navigation test alongside another unidentified vessel, following the completion of maintenance and updates at the end of February.
The circulating image was accompanied by an alert issued by Chinese authorities, indicating that from April 12th to May 31st, the Bohai Sea area will be off-limits to civilian and commercial vessel traffic due to military exercises.
The latest news regarding the aircraft carrier placed it at the beginning of March, starting sea trials, as evidenced by a series of viralized photographs shared by China’s state news agency (CCTV). It’s worth noting that the Liaoning had undergone scheduled maintenance work carried out throughout the past year at the Dalian shipyard.
During the maintenance period, mock-ups of J-15 and J-35 fighters were spotted on the flight deck, suggesting two potential paths. The first, and more conservative, involves the development of a version of these fifth-generation fighters adapted to operate from the flight deck of the Liaoning and Shandong, which have a Short Takeoff But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) configuration assisted by a ski-jump ramp on their bow. The second, and more radical, involves the installation of catapult systems on these types of aircraft carriers in the future.
Finally, at the end of February, the vessel was seen preparing to leave its moorings at the shipyard port, being towed by various tugs to the area where it will begin its navigation tests. After several weeks, the Liaoning has finally commenced extensive sea trials to test the new capabilities and improvements of its systems.
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