Russia, China Complete Joint-Sea 2014 Drills

China and Russia have completed their joint naval drill named “Joint-Sea 2014”, which began in South China Sea on May 20th, according to the Voice of Russia.

Russian and Chinese ships returned to the Shanghai port on Sunday, May 25th to attend the farewell ceremony for the Russian Navy staff participating in the exercise.

The exercise focused primarily on escorts, search and rescue, identification, anti-submarine work and the freeing of hijacked ship.

Executive director of the drills, Duan Zhaoxian, said that these drills included testing of weapons that are harder to operate than those tested in previous exercises.

This year, 14 warships, 2 submarines, mine airplanes and six helicopters from China and Russia participated in the exercise.

One of the ships participating in the exercise was Russian missile cruiser Varyag, which is the flagship of Russia’s Pacific Fleet. This 186.4 meter-long ship has a displacement of 11,490 tons and capability of carrying 480 crewmembers on board. She was opened for visit to Shanghai’s residents during her stay at the port.

Upon completion of the exercise, the Russian Navy’s ships left the port of Shanghai and headed home.

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Naval Today Staff, May 27, 2014; Image: Wikimedia