Missiles and fighters fly in Shandong war games
24/8/2005 7:44
Chinese and Russian troops participating in a joint military exercise
carried out a maritime blockade and live-fire drill off the coast of Shandong
Peninsula yesterday.
The war games began a few minutes after 11am, with
Chinese fighters providing air cover for a formation of Chinese and Russian
warships, and a Chinese and Russian air force echelon fighting a mock battle
with enemy planes.
Chinese fighters practiced blocking enemy battle planes
with air-to-air missiles and achieved domination above the sea.
Meanwhile,
the joint naval formation simulated sinking enemy submarines using attack
helicopters and depth charges.
Minutes later, Chinese and Russian patrol
planes guided the joint fleet against enemy warships. A Russian destroyer
launched precision attacks on enemy targets, while Chinese warships fired
missiles using information transmitted by the patrol planes.
With the help of
the early warning system, the joint naval formation launched mock attacks on
enemy planes and missiles with ship-to-air missiles and rapid-fire guns.
Participating in yesterday's exercise were Russia's Marshal Shaposhnikov
anti-submarine destroyer, a missile destroyer, ship-launched helicopters and
A-50 early warning planes from the Russian Pacific Fleet.
The chinese
contingent consisted of three destroyers, three frigates, two submarines and 20
aircraft.
Russian defense Minister Sergei Ivanov left for China's port city
of Qingdao yesterday to witness further maneuvers in the third phase of the
Sino-Russian joint military exercises, ITAR-TASS reported.
"Ivanov will watch
an amphibious assault landing operation and a fight for the capture and
possession of the seashore" scheduled for today, a source in the Russian Defense
Ministry told the news agency.
He will also hold talks with his counterparts
in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Weifang, Shandong Province, the
source said.
Defense ministers and military experts from the SCO and their
ambassadors and military attaches to China have been invited as observers to the
exercises. The members of the organization are China, Russia, Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Representatives of Mongolia, India,
Pakistan and Iran, which are observers to the SCO, were also invited to watch
the war games.
The joint exercises, called "Peace Mission 2005," are aimed at
deepening mutual trust, promoting military and security cooperation, enhancing
cooperation and coordinating the two armed forces in the fight against
international terrorists and extremists and settling regional crises, the
Russian Defense Ministry said.
The joint military drill, an unprecedented
event involving about 10,000 servicemen from China and Russia, began in the
Russian port city of Vladivostok last Thursday and moved to China the next day.
The eight-day maneuvers are due to end tomorrow.
The first Sino-Russian
military exercises represent a major step by Chinese and Russian leaders to
deepen their strategic partnership, said defense officials.
The exercises are
also a move by the two countries and their militaries to fulfill the goals of
the SCO to maintain peace, security and stability, the officials said. They also
said the exercises can provide a valuable experience for practical military
cooperation within the SCO framework and are of great significance in
safeguarding security in the region and the world.
Xinhua
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