• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Military Magazine Cited on Eight Key Aspects of China-Russia Drill

Posted on: Friday, 19 August 2005, 18:00 CDT

Text of report by Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao website on 19 August

Beijing, 18 August: Shijie Junshi [ World Military Affairs ], a famous Chinese military magazine, recently published a special article on eight key aspects of the Sino-Russian joint military exercise.

Key Aspect 1: Background of the Exercise

Most joint military exercises between countries except for those with tactical or campaign background will relay, through the exercise, a certain kind of strategic message to the public. A review of history shows that even during the period when China and the Soviet Union maintained very close relations, the two countries never held joint military exercises. In recent years, the Chinese People's Liberation Army [PLA] conducted joint military exercises with some peripheral and European countries, but most of the drills conducted during the exercises were tactical-level subjects such as maritime search and rescue and counter-terrorism. However, the wording of the ongoing "Peace Mission - 2005," which is declared as the first large-scale joint military exercise between the two countries, gives people an unusual feeling about the exercise.

Key Aspect 2: Execution of the Objective

Execution of the objective, which is the core component of a military exercise, is like building an arena for the exercise. A large-scale exercise needs to include many tactical and campaign subjects. In executing the objective, it is necessary to include all tactical and campaign subjects, which must conform to the overall background of the exercise.

As far as the ongoing Sino-Russian joint military exercise is concerned, the execution of the objective should include the background and the objective of the exercise.

Should the execution of the objective be based on the prevailing counter-terror operations, there will be many unanswerable questions. For example, the amphibious troops' landing operations, strategic bombers, and large-scale surface vessels' operations can hardly be incorporated into the category of counter-terrorism under any circumstance.

Key Aspect 3: Area of the Exercise

The area of a joint military exercise between two countries can provide a host of information. After the area of the exercise is made public, many details still merit close attention, such as whether or not the exercise's marine and air military operations enter international waters, how deep is the entry, to which regions the terrains of the amphibious landing and airborne operations are similar, and so on and so forth.

Key Aspect 4: Scale of the Exercise

The scale of the exercise is an important aspect of the Sino- Russian joint military exercise. The number of troops taking part in the exercise alone cannot decide the scale of the exercise. In observing the scale of the exercise, following key indexes can be used for reference: military titles of the directors general and directors of armed services of both side, numbers of armed services, and grades of heavy equipment participating in the exercise. Judging from these indexes, the ongoing exercise can definitely be defined as a large-scale exercise.

Key Aspect 5: Troops Participating in the Exercise

As this is the first large-scale joint military exercise between China and Russia, units involved in the exercise are definitely carefully selected ace troops. Currently taking part in the exercise are Russia's No 76 Airborne Division paratroopers, No 55 Guard Marine Division special troops, and Air Force transport planes, fighters, and strategic bombers.

By the same token, the Chinese PLA has sent a large number of crack troops.

Key Aspect 6: Equipment Involved in the Exercise

According to reports, heavy equipment of Russia's Navy and Air Force will be seen in the joint military, while the Chinese side will also show its latest equipment. All of these are worthy of watching.

Key Aspect 7: Tactical Subjects

According to experts, the most important point of observing a military exercise is to watch its tactical subjects. These are the sample questions to be observed: What drills will be conducted in the process of amphibious landing? Will they include drills in the entire process from pre-boarding assembly, offshore crossing, artillery preparations, and transfer to [combat] formation [huang cheng bian bo] to blitz landing, or just part of these drills? What subjects will the strategic bombers perform? Will they use cruise missiles to attack deep targets or anti-vessel missiles to assault fleets of large vessels at sea?

Key Aspect 8: Reactions from Various Circles

The first joint military exercise between the two powers will certainly receive different reactions. China and Russia, as participants in the exercise, will have the final authoritative evaluation of the exercise. The evaluation will not only touch upon the technical and tactical aspects but also, more importantly, release a certain kind of strategic message. Through the message, we can analyse and grasp the strategic direction of the Chinese and Russian armed forces at the present and for some time to come in the future. Meanwhile, by observing reactions from various circles, we can understand the analyses and judgments by countries and regions towards the direction of Sino-Russian strategic cooperation in the future, as well as find out the strategic trend of countries or regions.

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

More News in this Category