Chinese Aircraft Carrier Shandong Returns to Sea After Nine Month Refurbishment: Air Wing Expansion Likely

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy aircraft carrier Shandong has departed dry dock at Yulin Naval Base on Hainan Island after approximately nine months of deep refurbishment, with imagery shared online indicating that the vessel has begun its first sea trials since the overhaul. The carrier’s departure was reported on November 1, following an extended maintenance period that began in January 2026. The available imagery appears to show the ship underway with its flight deck markings yet to be restored. The absence of the markings suggests that work on the flight deck may not yet be complete, and the carrier’s return to sea should not be interpreted as confirmation that it is ready to resume routine flight operations. Sea trials following a major maintenance period allow a ship’s systems and performance to be assessed before it returns to operational duties. 

The Shandong, commissioned in December 2019, is China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier and the second to enter service with the People’s Liberation Army Navy. It uses a ski-jump flight deck and arresting wires, unlike the newer warship Fujian, which is a much larger flattop supercarrier with electromagnetic catapults. The vessel is based on the Soviet Kuznetsov class design, much like its sister ship the Liaoning which was procured partly completed after the USSR disintegrated, although both ships are significantly more modern and have demonstrated far higher reliability than the problematic Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. While the Shandong is one of just three carriers in service capable of accommodating manned fixed wing aircraft, not only are two more supercarriers making rapid progress under construction, by the world’s first Type 076 class drone carrier has also begun its first launches of unmanned fighters, and is expected to be commissioned in 2027.

The Shandong’s extended stay at Yulin also marks a significant use of China’s southern carrier-support infrastructure, demonstrating the Navy’s ability to conduct major carrier maintenance outside the traditional shipbuilding and repair facilities at Dalian. The precise scope of the Shandong’s overhaul, and the remaining work required before it can resume carrier aviation operations, remain highly uncertain. It has been speculated that modifications to the warship are intended to allow it to integrate new types of aircraft, most notably J-35 fifth generation fighters and possibly KJ-600 airborne early warning and control systems. These aircraft have both been integrated into the air wing of the Fujian, and would complement the heavily enhanced J-15B fighters and J-15D electronic attack jets that were confirmed in 2024 to have begun operating from the Shandong.