China’s 2nd Carrier Shandong Operates as US-Like “Carrier Strike Group”

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

China’s 2nd Shandong aircraft carrier is operating in formations analogous to US Navy Carrier Strike Groups flanked by a group of warships and venturing beyond its typical operational envelope, according to a Chinese Government-backed newspaper the GlobalTimes

The expanded, US-Navy-like “strike group” formations  with the Shandong correspond with People’s Liberation Army – Navy preparations for a second voyage “beyond the first island chain.” This appears to be a clear effort to project power beyond its immediate sphere of influence, “encircle and threaten” Taiwan and move further toward establishing China as a dominant global maritime power.

Transiting beyond the first island chain, a maritime area largely referred to as Japan, Taiwan, Philippines and Indonesia, aligns with China’s well-documented ambition to assert itself as an unrivaled global power capable of expanding reach and power well beyond the Pacific theater. 

With its third carrier, the Fujian, already underway and a widely observed, high-speed shipbuilding enterprise, the Chinese Navy is accelerating efforts to expand its Naval influence far beyond the Pacific and close what is a massive “carrier deficit” when compared to the US Navy’s 11.

China has added a second shipyard, is known to be fast-tracking or quickly producing new amphibious assault ships, destroyers and carriers. Also, there is much discussion about the well-known Chinese civil-military “fusion” enabling their government to massively expedite production of new warships.

A Chinese government-backed newspaper says the Shandong carrier is fast-making technological breakthroughs with a massively increased sortie rate, more rigorous training and an “intensification” of operational capacity. The Global Times newspaper explained that the PLA Navy’s Shandong also appears to be replicating what the US Navy calls a Carrier Strike Groups, as the Chinese carrier traveled with at least six other warships.