China’s navy in live-fire drills across three theatre commands, hinting at moves to counter US
- Guided-missile destroyers and corvettes among ships taking part in fire-strike training and anti-missile defence and maritime assault drills
- Exercises involve the Eastern, Northern and Southern Theatre Commands, CCTV reports
It the second such drills in just over a month, with observers seeing the exercises as part of efforts to counter US military challenges.
State broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday that the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern, Northern and Southern Theatre Commands held military exercises as part of “a comprehensive test of the overall operational capability of a naval formation in the context of actual combat”. It did not specify when and where the drills were carried out.
The Type 056A corvette the Huangshi, with the Northern Theatre Command that oversees Bohai Bay and the Yellow Sea, also took part in a fire-strike training in the waters of the Yellow Sea.
Meanwhile, a naval formation by Type 056A corvettes the Nanchong and the Wenshan with the Southern Theatre Command also took part in joint training on anti-missile defence and maritime assault, the report said.
