China, Russia kick off 9-day joint exercise

 

The Joint Sea-2015 II, a naval drill is being jointly conducted by China and Russia. The Chinese fleet involved in the exercise arrived in Russia's Vladivostok on Thursday.

Chinese navy destroyer Shenyang is seen during the Joint Sea-2015 (II) drill on Aug. 20, 2015 in Vladivostok, Russia. The Joint Sea-2015 (II) drill takes place from Aug. 20 to 28 in the Peter the Great Gulf, waters off the Clerk Cape, and the Sea of Japan, this is the second China-Russia naval exercise this year.[Xinhua]

The Chinese and Russian navies have started a nine-day joint drill. It's their second joint naval drill this year. The Joint Sea-2015 II exercise is being held in the Peter the Great Gulf, waters off Clerk Cape, and in the Sea of Japan.

"We have two drills this year. This represents that the friendship of the two country's navies has entered a new level. This Joint Sea-2015 II exercise builds on the foundation of the first drill and will further expand. It's larger, more diversified, more complicated, more comprehensive, and more coordinated. It will absolutely enhance the ability of the two country's navies to conduct joint operations and deal with maritime threats," Vice admiral Wang Hai with Chinese Navy said.

A total of 23 vessels and two submarines are participating. The two navies will simulate anti-submarine combat, air defense and a number of other relevant missions.

"In May when we conducted our first drill in the Mediterranean sea, we exercised on ensuring regional cruising safety and achieved a relatively high level of coordination and command. In the second phase of the Joint Sea-2015, we will deploy 22 ships, 20 planes, over 500 marines and 40 pieces of amphibian equipment. We will do drills on landing and other areas. We will further enhance our coordinated combat ability in various military missions," Alexander Fedotenkov with Russian Navy said.

China and Russia have held five joint naval exercises since 2005. The Chinese fleet left a military port in Qingdao last week. It went through the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan before arriving at the port city of Vladivostok, Russia. This is the 7th time for a Chinese naval fleet to visit the city, where Russia's pacific naval headquarters are based.