Liaoning makes home at new North Sea Fleet naval base
Joseph S Bermudez Jr
Colorado
Additional reporting by
James Hardy
London
The arrival on 27 February of China's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning , at its new home port in northeastern China has confirmed previous speculation that the Kuznetsov (Orel) (Project 1143.5/6)-class vessel was part of the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN's) North Sea Fleet.
Liaoning (pennant number 16) arrived at the new base at Dazhu Shan, 50 km southwest of Qingdao, accompanied by support vessel Xi Xiake (pennant number 88), which has been its consort since 3 July 2011.
In a 1 March 2013 image taken by DigitalGlobe, Liaoning and Xi Xiake are berthed at a new dock on the recently expanded eastern side of the base. Planning for the base expansion began in 2008, with construction of the dock, breakwaters, and associated support areas starting between March and October 2009. The expanded base opened for business in January 2013.
Between August 2011 and September 2012, the then-unnamed carrier conducted a series of manufacturer's trials and PLAN acceptance sea trials from its base at the shipyards of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (a subsidiary of China Shipbuilding Industry Company).
On 25 September 2012 the vessel was christened and commissioned and has since conducted a number of seaworthiness and technical trials, along with its first flight operations involving Shenyang J-15 multirole fighters and Changhe Z-8 helicopters. Liaoning left its berth at Dalian for its new home port at Dazhu Shan on 26 February, reportedly conducting weapon systems testing on the way.
The exact nature of the relationship between Xi Xiake and Liaoning is somewhat unclear. The most reasonable explanation appears to be that Xi Xiake is assigned to support the carrier by providing additional living quarters for crew, engineers, and technicians, training of new personnel, provision of administrative support during the early stages of the carrier's development and deployment.
Aside from Liaoning and Xi Xiake , the naval base at Dazhu Shan is the home port for a number of PLAN frigates and hosts one of the PLAN's new trimaran vessels as seen in the accompanying 9 January 2013 image. Although the basic design is not outwardly dissimilar to the US Navy's Independence-class littoral combat ships, a number of elements suggest a rescue role, not least the presence of two rigid-hulled inflatable boats and a lowered freeboard to allow access to the water.
The North Sea Fleet is headquartered at Qingdao, about 50 km northeast of Dazhu Shan. Divided into nine coastal defence districts with about 325 ships deployed among two submarine flotillas, two escort groups, one mine warfare unit, one amphibious unit, and the Bohai Gulf training flotilla, it is responsible for the area from the North Korean border to Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province. It would also render critical support to the army in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula.
Joseph S Bermudez Jr is a senior analyst at DigitalGlobe's Analysis Center.
Copyright © IHS Global Limited, 2013