Chinese aircraft carrier building remains long-term task

China's first aircraft carrier "Liaoning ship" was successfully handed over to the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and commissioned in service on September 25, 2012 as scheduled, marking an important milestone in the development history of the PLA.

However, the commission of "Liaoning ship" is only the first step of China's development of aircraft carriers. It is widely known that an aircraft carrier is a giant system made up of a multitude of modern advanced technologies. After a new aircraft carrier is commissioned in service, not only the various devices and systems aboard the aircraft carrier require debugging and adaption processes, but coordinated trainings with the other ships in the fleet are also in need. Training of pilots of carrier-based aircraft and coordination between the carrier and aircraft both require a long time. Moreover, the organic formation of the aircraft carrier and its fleet, their modes of operation, training and supply will all need exploration through practice.

For the Chinese Navy which has just bid farewell to a zero-aircraft-carrier plight, this process is likely to be longer. There is still a long way for China to go from the commission of its first aircraft carrier to the formation of real combat effectiveness.

Just as the Great Wall was not built overnight, the development and construction of China's aircraft carriers has a long way to go and great responsibilities to shoulder. We should keep ourselves sober and cool-headed, and take this decisive opportunity of commissioning the first aircraft carrier to accomplish the follow-up tests and training missions of the aircraft carrier with quality and high standards so that we can enhance the comprehensive combat capability of the Chinese Navy and better perform our sacred mission of safeguarding our national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.