China aircraft carrier, nagsagawa ng drills sa Philippine Sea

NAGSAGAWA ang Liaoning aircraft carrier ng high-intensity drills sa Philippine Sea ngayong buwan habang hinahasa naman ng PLA navy ang skills nito.

Sinabi ng Military analysts na ang exercise ay makapagbibigay ng reference point para sa training at operations kapag ang bansa ay nakakuha ng mas advanced carriers

“Ongoing drills involving China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier offer pointers to how training plans for future carrier strike groups will develop,” ayon sa military analysts.

Nagpalabas naman ang Japanese defense ministry ng detalye ng exercises sa Philippine Sea at nagpahayag na ang carrier’s J-15 fighters ay nakapagsagawa ng 200 sorties sa panahon ng first 10 days ng exercise, na nagsimula noong huling bahagi ng nakaraang buwan.

“Z-18 anti-submarine and early-warning helicopters were also taking part in the drills. China has not confirmed any details of the drills,” ayon sa Ministry.

“It’s not clear whether ship-borne aircraft have taken part in night flight drills, but such training is more intense compared with previous drills that were disclosed to the public,” ayon naman kay Lu Li-shih, dating instructor sa Taiwanese Naval Academy.

Sinasabing mayroong pitong escort ships ang napaulat na kasama ng Liaoning – kabilang na ang Type 055, “most powerful and largest destroyer” ng bansa, three Type 052D destroyers, supply ship at dalawang iba pang vessels – upang bumuo ng China’s biggest ever strike group formation.

“The ongoing large-scale training operation aims to test and develop training guidelines and a doctrine for ship-borne aircraft carrier deck operations, high-sea logistic support and other details, which will provide a reference point for the navy’s third aircraft carrier, the Type 003,” ayon kay Lu.

Ang pangatlong aircraft carrier ay inaasahan naman na ilulunsad ngayong taon na mayroong advanced launch system kumpara sa Liaoning at sa sister ship nito na Shandong.

“Except for the catapult take-off systems, all other operations on the new platform of the Type 003 will be very similar to the Liaoning,” ani Lu.

Ang Liaoning carrier group ay nagsimulang mag-operate mahigit sa 20 araw na, “right at the limit for the Soviet-designed ship,”ayon sa analysts .

“After high-frequency training in the first 10 days, aircraft on the Liaoning have reduced take-offs and landings to several sorties a day,” ang pahayag naman ni Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Tong .

“The Liaoning is just a training platform, yet on a real combat-ready carrier, pushing too hard will cause accidents.” dagdag na pahayag nito. (Daris Jose)