Chinese navy puts fleets through combat-readiness paces
- Vessels from three commands tested in separate maritime operations on Wednesday
- Drills follow joint exercise in western Pacific by US and Japanese forces
The drill involved three destroyers including the Type 052D Xiamen, which is much more advanced than its predecessors.
Meanwhile in the South China Sea, the Southern Theatre Command deployed the Type 903 Weishanhu supply ship and the hospital ship Youai to test their ability to work together in combat conditions, carrying out search and rescue, resupply and live-fire drills.
Also on Wednesday, the Northern Theatre Command held a major rescue exercise in the Yellow Sea, including a search and rescue operation involving a burning vessel.
The drills came two days after the US and Japan ended their five-day Noble Fusion 2022.
Led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, about 15,000 US sailors and marines and another 1,000 members of the Japan Self-Defence Forces took part in the drill along part of the “first island chain”, a strategic chain of islands from Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, US military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported on Wednesday.
The report said it was the biggest exercise of its kind since “two US amphibious ready groups and two Marine expeditionary units combined in the Indo-Pacific region in 2018”.
“The training included air-to-ground strikes by aircraft, air-to-air refuelling, raids at sea and on shore, along with expeditionary advanced base operations, a relatively new Marine fighting doctrine that calls for forward bases dispersed across small islands,” the report said.
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The exercise area was in waters to the east of Taiwan, a move seen as a show of force near China.
US commander Rear Admiral Chris Engdahl was quoted as saying the exercise was not aimed at a specific adversary but meant to show the “ability to mass forces and move quickly as well as strengthen partnerships”.
“It’s a message to our allies; it’s a message to the other nations that are in the Indo-Pacific,” Engdahl was quoted as saying. “This is a force that can support you and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Beijing-based military expert Zhou Chenming said the naval drills were to test strength and readiness.
“Through these drills, China and the US can test each other’s intentions, and also military capabilities and preparedness,” he said.
