Happy 13th Birthday to the Naval Carrier-Based Aviation Force!
"Dancing on the Blade's Tip" on the carrier deck — today, this force turns 13!
On May 10, 2013,
with approval from the Central Military Commission,
the Navy's first carrier-based aviation force
was formally established on the shores of Bohai Bay.
The People's Navy's order of battle
gained yet another new type of main combat force.
On November 23, 2012,
the J-15 carrier-based fighter
successfully completed its first takeoff and landing aboard the Liaoning,
and the "Flying Shark" soared across sea and sky.
In 2016,
the J-15 carrier-based fighter launched an anti-ship missile for the first time.
In December, it deployed with the Liaoning carrier strike group
to the Western Pacific for open-ocean training —
the first time Chinese carrier-based fighters
flew over the Western Pacific.
In 2017,
the technical challenge of nighttime takeoff and landing was overcome.
In 2020,
night aerial partner refueling training was completed for the first time.
In 2023,
the force deployed with the Shandong carrier strike group
to the Western Pacific for training.
In October 2024, the Liaoning and Shandong conducted the first dual-carrier formation exercise.
In October 2024,
the Liaoning and Shandong formations
conducted the first dual-carrier formation exercise.
J-15 fighters formed a wedge formation
and flew over the dual-carrier formation.
The J-15T carrier-based fighter takes off via electromagnetic catapult from the Navy's Fujian; a J-35 carrier-based fighter is preparing for takeoff.
The J-35 carrier-based fighter takes off via electromagnetic catapult from the Navy's Fujian — the moment the aircraft leaves the ship.
The KJ-600 carrier-based airborne early warning aircraft takes off via electromagnetic catapult from the Navy's Fujian — the moment the aircraft leaves the ship.
In 2025,
the J-15T, J-35, and KJ-600 —
three types of carrier-based aircraft —
completed their first catapult takeoff and arrested landing training
aboard the Fujian.
……
From single aircraft to a system of systems,
from shore-based to carrier-based,
from ski-jump to catapult,
from being able to fly to being able to fight —
a series of time markers,
a succession of technical breakthroughs,
trace the growth of this force over 13 years.
But what has written this history
has never been cold, lifeless numbers —
it has been a group of people who have entrusted their lives to sea and sky.
Generation after generation of "dancers on the blade's tip" (刀尖上的舞者),
with blood and resolve,
have continuously broken through the "forbidden zones" of combat-realistic training.
From "able to fly and able to board the ship"
to "able to fight and able to conduct joint operations" —
daring to fight and certain to win, boldly scaling new heights:
this is their fighting spirit (血性).
Thirteen years cleaving through waves,
thirteen years soaring in pursuit of a dream —
this young and valiant force,
in the posture of a "naval and air iron fist" (海空铁拳),
guards the motherland's ten-thousand-li maritime frontier.
Today, let us all say together:
People's Navy Carrier-Based Aviation Force —
at 13, happy birthday!