Chinese warplanes take South China Sea exercises to new level
- Latest drill transforms PLA’s approach in the disputed waterway from ‘passive’ to ‘proactive’ in marked contrast to previous war games
- New strategy aimed at preparing for ‘unexpected confrontations’
“Different from the exercises conducted last year on early warning reconnaissance, this drill was much longer in time span, put in a confrontational mode from the start and had an emphasis on night-time training,” said Yan Liang, commander of an unspecified division, according to the report.
“[This kind of drill] continuously challenged the limits of our personnel and equipment, and helped strengthen the emergency combat capabilities of the army.”
The drill was held in mid-November and involved two groups of warplanes. In the exercise, the first batch of planes shared intelligence with the second, which were then sent to search and gather information about a group of targets at sea, the report said.
An unnamed officer from the same division said the Chinese air force had transformed its approach from passive to proactive. “Now ‘difficulty’ and ‘intelligence’ have become the more frequent words in our exercises … and we have made detailed plans to evade risks and dangers in every drill,” the officer said.
