Chinese and Russian warships gathered at the eastern Chinese harbor of Qingdao Saturday to prepare for their first joint exercise, slated for April 22-27 in the Yellow Sea.A total of 16 vessels and two submarines from Chinese navy have been summoned at Qingdao of east China's Shandong Province, including five missile destroyers, five missile frigates, four missile boats, a support vessel and hospital ship. Together with them are 13 aircraft and five shipboard helicopters.
On Sunday morning, Russian naval deputy chief of staff Rear Admiral Leonid Sukhanov announced here on Sunday the official start of the joint exercise with the Chinese navy, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
More than 4,000 Chinese servicemen will attend the drill, said the navy sources.
The Russian warships include the Pacific Fleet's flagship Varyag, a slava-class guided missile cruiser, and Marshal Shaposhnikov, Admiral Panteleyev and Admiral Vinogradov, three Udaloy-class destroyers.According to Xinhua, the exercise will focus on joint maritime air defense and defense of marine traffic arteries, including subjects of joint escort, maritime search and rescue, anti-submarine tactics as well as joint effort to rescue hijacked vessels.
The two navies will also deploy aircraft and special force units to conduct joint maritime anti-terror task in the exercise.
China and Russia have conducted four bilateral and multilateral military exercises since 2005.
The upcoming China-Russia maritime drill will further promote strategic coordination and mutual trust between the two militaries.
Friendly military-to-military cooperation is an important aspect of the China-Russia strategic partnership, Chen said, adding the drill is the first of such moves by the two countries' navies.
Since 2005, China and Russia have conducted several joint military exercises within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Source: Agencies
22-04-2012 - 10:50 Last updated 22-04-2012 - 10:53
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