PLA Navy steps up real-life combat drills in East China Sea near Taiwan
- Sailors always ready for battle, Eastern Theatre Command says in online post highlighting actual combat practice
- Drills follow series of air and sea exercises in response to US lawmakers’ visit to Taiwan in April
The PLA Eastern Theatre Command on Tuesday revealed the details of a recent navy strike group drill, with a post on the naval unit’s official social media account saying the exercises were “closely related to the [PLA Navy’s] missions and tasks, focused on combat enemies and highlighted actual combat conditions”.
The training included more than 10 kinds of drills, such as close-in gun defence, main gun attack on the sea, tracking and surveillance, damage control, and search and rescue operations, according to the post.
The command did not specify the time and location of the training, but named two warships in the flotilla – Type 054 frigate the Wenzhou and a Type 056 corvette, the Deyang.
The drills appeared to be a follow-up to a series of PLA joint forces exercises in the waters and airspace around Taiwan, launched in response to a visit to the island by a bipartisan group of US lawmakers, who sought to reassure Taipei of Washington’s support in the event of an attack from mainland China.
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Right after news of the visit broke, it was reported that the Deyang and a frigate were launching “high-intensity, full-load training” exercises.