China army exercise puts drone defence capability to the test ‘after years spent studying US tactics’
- PLA drill included challenging weather and battle scenarios to boost combat readiness
- Experts say China has been studying US military engagements closely
China has enhanced its ground-based air defence capability to better counter drone fleets, according to China’s state broadcaster.
CCTV reported on Monday that an air defence brigade had shot down all drone targets during a recent exercise carried out in both daylight and at night, under “real war” conditions that included bad weather.
The brigade, under the Northern Theatre Command’s 79th group army, travelled through heavy fog from the northeastern province of Liaoning to reach the drill location north of Weifang city in Shandong province, northern China.
Company commander Gao Libin said the heavy fog was a challenge. In addition to the weather, the troops had to overcome a number of real war scenarios including evading detection by enemy satellite and making running repairs to vehicles, according to the CCTV report.
Diao Junqi, battalion commander, said the drill had helped improve coordination among the personnel and speed their response times in combat situations.
