Chinese Navy Liaoning aircraft carrier has tested its integrated combat capability.

Chinese Navy Liaoning aircraft carrier formation on Thursday, April 30, 2020, returned to a military port in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, after nearly one month of trans-theater training in the far seas.

China's Liaoning aircraft carrier. (Picture source Twiter account People's Daily, China)

The training was a routine arrangement in the annual plan, featuring a long duration, many subjects, high intensity and complicated air and sea situations, said a military statement, noting that the formation's far seas training in real combat conditions has improved and its integrated combat capability has got tested.

Liaoning is a Chinese Type 001 aircraft carrier. The first aircraft carrier commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force. The ship was launched in 2012.

The Liaoning aircraft carrier that was originally developed as an Admiral Kuznetsov Class multirole aircraft carrier by the Soviet Union.In September 2011, it has completed maiden sea trials.

In August 2014, the Chinese-language Shanghai Morning Post listed that Liaoning would carry 36 aircraft: 24 Shenyang J-15 fighters, six Changhe Z-18F anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters, four Changhe Z-18J airborne early warning helicopters and two Harbin Z-9C rescue helicopters. The Chinese carrier aircraft inventory is similar to a balanced combat and support aircraft approach intended for Soviet aircraft carriers, which supported nuclear submarines, large surface combatants, and land-based strike bombers performing anti-access roles.

The Liaoning aircraft carrier is armed with the Flying Leopard 3000 Naval (FL-3000N) missile system and Type 1030 close-in weapon system (CIWS). Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) is supported by ASW rocket launchers.

The Flying Leopard 3000 Naval (FL-3000N) was first revealed to the public at the 7th Zhuhai Airshow at the end of 2008. The FL-3000N system uses the HHQ-10 (Red Flag 10) naval surface to air missile developed from TY-90 missile. The FL-3000N consists of an eight-cell missile launcher similar to the US Navy's Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) missile system. The purpose of this air defense missile is to take out incoming threats such as anti-ship missiles, rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft. For that purpose several missiles can be fired near simultaneously at the same target at ranges between 500 to 6,000 meters.