High level of trust displayed in Sino-Russian military drills

The Chinese and Russian navies strengthened their cooperation and capabilities in maritime operations through the Joint Sea-2014, which concluded on Sunday, according to a senior Chinese commander.

"The joint drill has completed its preplanned tasks and achieved our goals," Vice-Admiral Tian Zhong, deputy commander of the People's Liberation Army navy, told a news conference on Sunday afternoon.

"We blended all Chinese and Russian forces and divided them into three combat squadrons, enabling officers to enhance cooperation and to have more opportunities to know each other better," he said.

"During the live-fire exercise, officers from both sides displayed high-level cooperation and precision."

A total of 14 ships, two submarines, nine fixed-wing aircraft and six helicopters from the two navies practiced nine tactical maneuvers, including air defense, anti-ship strikes, anti-submarine combat as well as rescue of hijacked vessels, during the weeklong Joint Sea-2014, which started on Tuesday in the northern part of the East China Sea.

The two countries used some of their best armaments during the drill, such as the advanced Chinese missile destroyer Zhengzhou, Russia's Slava class missile cruiser Varyag and the Sovremenny class destroyer Bystryy, as well as Sukhoi Su-30 and J-10 advanced fighter jets.

The exercise is the third of its kind, after joint drills off the coast of Russia's Far East in July and the Yellow Sea in April 2012.

"The two navies now have plentiful experience in organizing large joint exercises like this," Tian said. "We didn't need to spend a lot of time on discussion or other paperwork. Therefore, the whole action was executed with high efficiency."

Compared with the previous two joint exercises, this year's drill featured a more realistic combat environment and higher integration in communication.

Satellites were used for the first time in the drill to support communication between Chinese and Russian forces, Tian said.

Li Yigang, captain of the Zhengzhou, said unlike previous joint drills, he and other officers were not given any tips about their rivals.

"We were on our own. All scenarios were unpredictable and not preplanned. We treated this drill as real combat."

He said both navies shared their weapons' technical specifications and data during the drill, which shows the high level of mutual trust.

Vice-Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov, deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy who jointly presided over the drill with Tian, said Russia is willing to conduct exercises with China in areas outside the Asia-Pacific.

"We will also include other fleets such as the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet to join the drill alongside the Pacific Fleet," he said.