Navy Liaoning Carrier Strike Group Completes Far-Sea Combat-Realistic Training

海军辽宁舰编队完成远海实战化训练

PLA Daily (解放军报) 22 June 2026

Summary

The Liaoning carrier strike group returned to home port on June 22 after completing far-sea combat-realistic training across the South China Sea and Western Pacific, conducting live weapons employment, multi-sortie day-and-night ship-aircraft offensive and defensive confrontations, and joint exercises with an amphibious assault ship strike group focused on system-of-systems integration. The carrier-amphibious pairing is the operationally significant detail: it documents a deliberate effort to rehearse combined carrier and amphibious power projection in far-sea conditions, extending a pattern of integrating these two strike group types that raises questions about the scenarios the PLA Navy is prioritizing at range. The article's claim that Japanese vessels conducted 'harassment and provocation' is a rhetorical framing, not an operational report, but its inclusion establishes a public record the PLAN can cite to justify future responses to Japanese ISR activity near carrier operations.

The article reports first-disclosed joint exercises between the Liaoning carrier strike group and an amphibious assault ship strike group in the Western Pacific, explicitly framing combined carrier-amphibious operations as a tested capability under far-sea combat-realistic conditions—a pairing with direct relevance to Taiwan contingency planning that has not been routinely publicized at this level of operational detail.

Translation

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, June 22 (Li Bingxuan, Zhang Maoxuan) — This reporter has learned from relevant departments of the Navy that the Navy's Liaoning carrier strike group successfully completed far-sea combat-realistic training (远海实战化训练) and safely returned to its home port on the 22nd.

During this training, the strike group continuously operated across multiple maritime and air domains including the South China Sea and the Western Pacific, planning and organizing training subjects including shore-sea joint system-of-systems confrontation (岸海联合体系对抗), carrier-based aircraft tactical flight, and strike group search and rescue. Grounded in far-sea combat requirements, the group planned and organized exercises in air superiority and air defense, anti-surface strike, support and cover, far-sea comprehensive rescue, and live weapons employment. The group conducted multi-sortie ship-aircraft offensive and defensive confrontations (舰机攻防对抗) spanning day and night, continuously deepened the intensive and refined training of primary combat modules (主战模块专攻精练), and effectively tested the far-sea system-of-systems operational employment (远海体系作战运用) of the carrier strike group.

In a certain sea area of the Western Pacific, the Liaoning carrier strike group conducted joint exercises with an amphibious assault ship strike group. Both sides carried out system-of-systems integration training (体系融合训练), tempering the operational effectiveness of the carrier strike group acting in coordination with the amphibious assault ship strike group in far-sea combat-realistic operations.

This training is routine training organized by the Chinese Navy in accordance with its annual plan, aimed at continuously improving the capability to fulfill its mission. It conforms to relevant international law and international practice and is not directed at any specific country or target. During the training period, Japanese vessels and aircraft conducted close-range tracking and surveillance on multiple occasions, engaging in harassment and provocation. The Liaoning carrier strike group maintained a high state of combat readiness throughout, continuously organizing combat launches of carrier-based aircraft, flexibly varying combat formations, and professionally and steadily handling and responding to the dangerous conduct of the Japanese side.

Original Chinese

新华社北京6月22日电（李秉宣、张懋瑄）记者从海军有关部门获悉，海军辽宁舰编队圆满完成远海实战化训练，22日安全返回母港。此次训练中，编队连续转战南海、西太平洋等多个海空域，筹划组织岸海联合体系对抗、舰载机战术飞行、编队搜救等课目训练，立足远海实战要求，筹划组织制空防空、对海打击、支援掩护、远海综合救援、实际使用武器等演练，跨昼夜开展多批次舰机攻防对抗，持续深化主战模块专攻精练，有效检验了航母编队远海体系作战运用。在西太平洋某海域，辽宁舰编队与两栖攻击舰编队开展联合演练，双方开展体系融合训练，锤炼了航母编队联动两栖攻击舰编队远海实战行动效能。此次训练是中国海军根据年度计划组织的例行性训练，旨在不断提高履行使命能力，符合相关国际法和国际实践，不针对特定国家和目标。训练期间，日方舰机多次近距离跟踪监视，滋扰挑衅。辽宁舰编队全程保持高度戒备状态，连续组织舰载机战斗起飞，灵活变换战斗队形，专业稳妥处置应对日方危险行径。