On Oct 23rd the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning set sail on a voyage to undertake further scientific research, experiments, and drills. Military expert Du Wenlong told the media in an interview that the open-sea combat capacity of the Chinese navy will only achieve the results required of it if the Liaoning can engage in military exercises in the open seas as part of a core formation.

Du Wenlong pointed out that the carrier's open-sea drills must meet two conditions. One is close coordination between ship-borne aircraft and the aircraft carrier - ship-borne aircraft must progress from "able to fly" to "able to fight". The other is a complete communication, command, and collaboration capacity between fighting naval vessels and the shipboard command system in the aircraft carrier formation - only in this way can uninterrupted communication be guaranteed among underwater vessels, the waterborne formation, and the shore-based major command center.

Du Wenlong said that to meet the former requirement, the Liaoning must start to undertake many more drills under harsh and complicated conditions and in extreme weather; in terms of the latter requirement, the Liaoning has been trying to build itself into an effective open sea fighting unit since its launch. In terms of overall communication, a data chain of the same model must be used for communication between the aircraft-carrier platform and the destroyers and frigates. This problem can be solved satisfactorily.

Du Wenlong said that the open-sea fighting capacity of the Chinese navy can reach the standards required of it if the Liaoning can engage in military exercise in the open seas as part of a core formation.