Armored vehicles land on beach from an amphibious warship during the joint drills in Shandong August 23, 2005.(newsphoto) |
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QINGDAO:Amphibious tanks,armed helicoptersand Chinese and Russianmarine corpsbraved heavy rain yesterday to launch an amphibious assault in Langyatai, about 120 kilometres from Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province.
The hour-long drill started with the firing of hundreds of rockets from 12 jet fighters and 12bombers taking out "enemy forces" on the beach.
At the same time a fleet oflanding craft, asubmarine hunterand destroyers from the two navies also launched attacks.
With support from destroyers andarmed helicopters, three Il-76freighters parachuted in acompanyofparatroopsto join theground attack.
Aspecial taskforcechoppered in on 18 transport helicopters also took part in the battle.
Thelive ammunitionjoint militarymanoeuvreclimaxed yesterday when amphibious tanks from both armiesrolled outlanding ships andmade forthe beaches.
A company of Russian marine corps with 10 armoured personnel carriers and one Chinese amphibious battalion of 33 tanks braved strong winds and high waves to take control of thebeachheads.
Theamphibious landingwas launched yesterday in adverse weather conditions, with heavy rain and fog.
Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan and his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov watched the drill.
Before the exercise, Cao and Ivanov held talks in Qingdao, during which they said the joint military drills would improve the strategic co-operative partnership between the two countries.
Cao said mutual trust in military and security sectors and co-operation in military training is significant in safeguarding the peace and safety of the region and the world.
Ministers and vice-ministers of defence from the Shanghai Co-operation Organization, which groups Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as China and Russia, were also present at the drills.
The amphibious landing was one of three exercises making up the countries' joint military manoeuvre called "Peace Mission 2005," which started on August 18 and ends today.
The two armies launched a naval blockade on Tuesday and will launch a third joint operation today.
Ivanov said in Qingdao on Tuesday that there have been no technical or operative compatibility problems during the war games, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.
"Co-operation with them (Chinese troops) is easier since most of their weaponry is Soviet and Russian made, but a language barrier exists in communications," Ivanov was quoted as saying.
(China Daily)
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Updated: 2005-08-25 09:30
