The two Chinese carriers currently in the western Pacific employ the older “ski-jump” launch method for aircraft, with a ramp at the end of a short runway to assist planes taking off. China’s first carrier, the Liaoning, was a repurposed Soviet ship. The second, the Shandong, was built in China along the Soviet design.

PLA is coordinating carriers in the blue-water arena, a tactic it would likely use to deter US forces in a Taiwan conflict, analysts say.

A patrol aircraft dispatched by Japan—a treaty ally of the United States—was intercepted by fighter jets launched from a Chinese aircraft carrier operating in the wider western Pacific. Newsweek has contacted the Chinese Defense and Foreign Ministries via email for comment.