Liaoning & Shandong (Type 001/002)

China's first two operational aircraft carriers, pairing Soviet-derived ski-jump architecture with J-15 fighters to develop the PLA Navy's carrier-aviation and far-seas operating capability.

Overview

Liaoning (hull 16, Type 001) and Shandong (hull 17, Type 002) are the People's Liberation Army Navy's conventionally powered, short-takeoff-but-arrested-recovery aircraft carriers. Both descend from the Soviet Kuznetsov design and launch aircraft from bow ski-jumps rather than catapults. Liaoning is the rebuilt ex-Soviet Varyag and entered Chinese service in September 2012, initially emphasizing training and carrier-qualification work. Shandong, commissioned in December 2019, is China's first domestically built carrier and incorporates a smaller island, expanded aviation spaces and updated radar.

The ships established China's ability to train carrier air wings, organize escorted carrier groups and operate naval aviation beyond the first island chain. Their principal fixed-wing aircraft is the J-15 fighter, supported by helicopters for airborne early warning, anti-submarine warfare, transport and rescue. Neither carrier can operate conventional fixed-wing support aircraft, and ski-jump launches constrain aircraft takeoff weight relative to catapult-equipped carriers. These limitations distinguish them from the larger Type 003 Fujian, but the two ships remain active operational platforms rather than training vessels alone. Their increasingly distant deployments, including simultaneous operations beyond the first island chain in 2025, demonstrate a transition toward routine multi-carrier operations.

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