The recent satellite imagery has revealed key upgrades to China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, following its major refurbishment completed between February 2023 and February 2024.
The images show a series of enhancements that suggest an expansion of the vessel’s operational capacity and efficiency.
According to Janes, one of the most noticeable changes is the addition of a new weapons elevator at the aft section of the Liaoning’s flight deck. Measuring approximately 6×2 meters, this elevator is positioned about 3.5 meters forward of the ship’s stern, crossing the flight deck’s foul line.
This feature was not present in earlier satellite images of the carrier, suggesting it was installed during the recent refurbishment.
In addition to the new aft elevator, two larger weapons elevators have been added in the forward section, replacing the four smaller elevators that were previously in place.
These new elevators, measuring 6×2 meters each, are located between the jet blast deflectors and are designed to provide greater flexibility and speed when reconfiguring an aircraft’s weapons payload, especially when quick adjustments are needed before launch.
In March 2024, full-scale mock-ups of the J-15 and J-35 fighter aircraft were spotted on the flight deck during the post-refurbishment sea trials. This suggests the Liaoning has been upgraded to accommodate the latest Chinese fighter jets to augment its operational capabilities.
By September, the vessel made headlines when China announced it had tested its next-generation J-35 fighter jet aboard the CNS Liaoning aircraft carrier.
The upgrades also appear to have paid off in terms of operational performance. According to data from an open-source intelligence X (formerly Twitter) account, the Liaoning’s fighter sortie rate markedly improved after the refurbishment.
During its deployment in December 2022, the carrier’s sortie rate peaked at 20 per day but fell to as low as five towards the end of the mission.
However, by September 2024, after the refit, the average sortie rate had risen to 37 per day, with peak rates reaching up to 48 sorties in a single day. These modifications indicate that the Liaoning is now better equipped for high-intensity operations.
In a related development, the Shandong, the other operational carrier of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), became highly active when the Liaoning was refurbished.
During its October 2023 deployment, the Shandong averaged 47 fighter sorties per day over a period of nine days, maintaining nearly two sorties per day per aircraft throughout the deployment.
Pentagon Warns Of Rising Chinese Naval Power
In its 2024 report on China’s military and security developments, the U.S. Department of Defense raised alarms over the rapid expansion of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
The unclassified version of the “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China” report, released on December 18, highlighted that the PLAN remains the largest naval force in the world by hull count, boasting over 370 ships and submarines.
The report details China’s progress in bolstering its naval capabilities, notably through its aircraft carrier program. Currently, China operates two carriers, with a third—CNS Fujian—expected to become operational in the first half of 2025.
This contrasts with the US Navy’s fleet of 11 aircraft carriers, including six stationed in the Pacific. Despite this advantage, the Pentagon warned that China’s naval build-up continues to challenge America’s strategic position, especially in the Pacific.
One of the key developments is China’s increased use of its aircraft carriers in distant sea operations. CNS Shandong, the second of China’s carriers, made three deployments to the Philippine Sea in 2023, marking a record for Chinese naval operations in this region.
These far-seas training missions, conducted in the Eastern Indian Ocean and Western Pacific, demonstrate China’s growing ability to project power beyond its immediate waters.
The Shandong’s activities included war games near Taiwan, which China views as a breakaway province, and exercises near Guam, a key US territory in the Pacific.
In a major milestone, China conducted its first-ever dual-carrier operation in October 2023, with the Liaoning and Shandong operating together in the South China Sea.
This move was seen as the beginning of China’s ambitions to develop a “multi-carrier force.” This capability would improve China’s ability to project naval power well beyond its shores.
Moreover, as part of its long-term naval ambitions, China has set its sights on expanding its carrier fleet to at least six by the mid-2030s, with speculation suggesting that some of these could be nuclear-powered.
This goal aligns with the PLAN’s strategy of increasing its operational reach across the Pacific, a region that remains vital to US defense strategy. The US has long relied on a “first island chain” defense concept, with Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines acting as key partners in containing China’s growing military presence in the region.
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