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17 July 2024 (Wednesday)
Sharpening the Sword
Chinese Navy Aircraft Carrier Battle Group Defense Zones
By Wendell Minnick (Whiskey Mike) 顏文德
TAIPEI - Once again, the China Maritime Studies Institute under the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the U.S. Naval War College has outdone itself again.
CMSI Note #6: Sharpening the Sword: Chinese Navy Aircraft Carrier Battle Group Defense Zones, released on 16 July 2024, by Daniel Clayton Rice, is in my opinion required reading.
Please download HERE.
Perspectives and Key Takeaways:
• Chinese state media’s Channel 7 recently released a series of videos that described China’s aircraft carriers and the carrier battle groups, including their history, composition, and operational theory.
• The videos describe the carrier battle group (CVBG) “Outer Defense Zone” (外防区), also called the “Depth Defense Zone” (纵深防区), as 185 km to 400 km away from the aircraft carrier.
• The “Middle Defense Zone” (中防区), or the “Area Defense Zone” (区域防区) is described as 45 km to 185 km away from the aircraft carrier.
• The video details the “Inner Defense Zone” (内防区), otherwise called the “Point Defense Zone” (点防区), as 100 meters to 45 km away from the aircraft carrier.
• According to the videos, air operations from the carriers are generally divided into two types of flight operations: the “Split wave operational pattern” (分波作业方式) and the “Continuous operational pattern” (连续作业方式).
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