The People's Liberation Army navy has conducted several drills involving long-range operations of naval aircraft, significantly improving its air support capability, military officials said.
The PLA navy's aviation force confirmed the drills in a statement on its website on Monday.
"In recent years, the navy used ... ships' long-distance patrols, training and large live-fire exercises to mobilize various types of naval aircraft to fly through the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait and perform drills in airspace above the western Pacific Ocean," the statement said.
"Through these long-duration, multitasking, intensive exercises, which are highly realistic, the naval aviation force has tested its tactics, training methods and its units' capabilities, accumulating experience for future long-range operations."
The statement added that such training features electronic warfare scenarios, unfamiliar airspace and bad weather, and could help to nurture pilots' courage and combat readiness.
With the participation of aircraft in the drills, ships and ground command units can practice early-warning operations, precision strikes, firepower support for other vessels, and air defense, enabling the navy to strengthen collaboration and coordination among its units, the statement said.
The navy has used its aviation force in almost every major operation in recent years, including escort missions in the Gulf of Aden, the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and the recent joint drill with the Russian navy in the Mediterranean Sea.
All the navy's fighter jet regiments are able to perform "cross-region combat tasks", with their pilots having all-weather operational ability, the statement said.
The announcement came one week after the PLA disclosed a major shift in its navy's strategic focus - from the "offshore defense" to a combination of this type of defense and "open seas protection".
In the white paper China's Military Strategy, issued by the State Council Information Office on May 26, the PLA highlighted the nation's maritime security challenges and measures to protect the expanding overseas interests of the world's second-largest economy.
"It is necessary for China to develop a modern maritime military force structure commensurate with its national security and development interests," the document said.
Zhang Junshe, a researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said, "Sending naval aircraft to airspace far from our territorial waters will push our maritime defense line farther into the ocean, enabling the early interception of incoming enemy aircraft or missiles."
He added, "In addition, having our own military aircraft over important waterways will help the navy's ships safeguard the country's maritime transportation routes."
