The exercises are referred to as Морское взаимодействие 2021 is Russian and 海上联合-2021 in Chinese.
- Exercises held between the Russian Navy and the PLA Navy, focusing on interoperability, which will run between 14 October and 17 October.
- Practiced sinking mines with artillery fire, attacking surface ships, and conducting air defense
- Russia has sent at least some minesweepers, battleships, and a submarine
- China has sent two battleships, two corvettes, and a submarine
- Exercises are being held in Russian territory in the Peter the Great Gulf
- Exercises will include joint maneuvering, joint targetting of surface targets, air defense, antisubmarine exercises, anti mine exercises, and communications.
- These exercises will be the first to feature Chinese ships with a displacement of more than 10k tons and antisubmarine planes.
Source: https://tass.com/defense/1349479
- Russia sent the following ships to the exercises: the antisubmarine ship Admiral Panteleyev; two Steregushchiy class corvettes, Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov and Gromky; two coastal minesweepers; the Kilo class submarine Ust-Bolsheretsk; a missile boat; and a rescue tugboat.
- China sent the following ships to the exercises: the destroyers Kunming 昆明 and Nanchang 南昌; the corvettes Binzhou 滨州 and Liuzhou 柳州L; a diesel submarine; a supply ship; and a rescue vessel.
- These Chinese delegation of ships reached the Peter the Great Gulf on 13 October 2021.
- Also involved in the exercises are 12 helicopters and aircrafts, the total from both the Russian Navy's aviation and the PLAN airforce.
- The ships will practice joint maneuvers, mine countermeasures, targetting surface targets, and hunting down submarines.
- The Nanchang 南昌 destroyer is a Type 055 class ship, participating in its first foreign drill.
- Chinese is really really proud of this ship and views it a representation of the cutting edge of Chinese military technology.
- Other Chinese ships include: the Type 052D destroyer Kunming, the Type 054A frigates Binzhou and Liuzhou, and the Type 903A comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu 东平湖, as well as fixed wing anti-submarine warfare aircraft and vessel-borne helicopters from the Eastern, Southern and Northern Theater Commands
- The Chinese nationalist perspective (from this journal) is that the exercises show some kind of Chinese and Russian unity to resist the Quad and AUKUS.
- The goal is further elaborated as the ability to cooperate for the joint protection of security in the region. It is also meant to test the PLAN's capabilities in command, air defense, antiship, antisubmarine, reconaissance, early warning, communication, and navigation in deployments outside coastal waters.
- Unlikely in most Chinese drills, there was no rehersal prior to the drill. The Chinese ships went directly into drill, better simulating real combat conditions.
- The current drill, Naval Interaction 2021, is the 9th drill to happen since the naval exercise between Russia and China began in 2012.
- TASS puts the strength of the Russian Pacific Fleet as 83 ships, broken down into 62 surface ships and 21 submarines. It is commanded by Admiral Sergey Iosifovich Avakianz.
- Some of the exercises practiced by the Russian and Chinese navies were taking out mines using artillery fire and attacking decoys being pulled to represent surface ship warfare.
- The exercise ended with a joint search and blocking of a submarine, using both ships and antisubmarine aircraft. That same day, they also practiced landing on ships using helicopters.
- The ships also took part in an antiaircraft exercise that involved some SU30SM aircraft of the Eastern Military District army and air defense forces, and helicopters attached to Pacific Fleet aviation.
- List of ships taking part in the exercise confirms the information provided by TASS (source #3)
- The annual naval exercises between Russia and China began in 2012, outside of the SCO framework, and have happened every year since except 2020, when they were cancelled due to COVID19.
- The first joint naval exercises between Russia and China were held in 2005 as part of large scale military exercises conducted through the SCO.
- On either 14 October or 15 October, the Russian and Chinese navies practiced demining and destroying mines through artillery. They also practiced firing at moving targets and air defense exercises, manuevering, deployment, and communications.
- The Chinese vessels arrived in the Peter the Great Gulf just before the beginning of deployment.
- The exercises themselves took place in the Sea of Japan.
- 12 aircraft were involved, including some from Russia and some aircraft of the PLAN.
- On 16 October, at 02:00, Russian and Chinese ships practiced leaving harbor and maneuvering at night time. A night time deployment also occurred on 15 October.
- Both of these cases appear to be meant to better simulate combat conditions, including irregular drill times, no rehersal, and nocturnal missions.
- Like other Chinese sources, this one really stresses the participation of the Nanchang destroyer, one of the PLAN's newest ships and only deployed in January 2020.
- It is unclear from the Chinese sources how command was organized, but it appears that there were separate Chinese and Russian commands who communicated with each other.
- The Chinese commander was the Deputy Commander for the PLAN Northern District, Yao Pinghe (耀平和).
- The Russian commander was named as Kabantsov [presumably Rear Admiral Konstantin Kabantsov]
- On 14 October 2021, the Russian and Chinese fleets held an opening ceremony, marking the beginning of exercises.
- The Chinese say that they sent their best military equipment to the exercise to underscore its importance and the importance of their military relationship with Russia. They claim the Russians do the same
- Is this true? Do the Russians send their best warships?
- The antisubmarine aircraft that took part in the exercises were Chinese and took off from a Chinese airport, flying through Russia to reach their destination in the Sea of Japan.
- More confirmations that this exercise is meant to better simulate combat conditions, that Chinese sailors are unused to this, and that they are having difficulties. For example, the Nancheng has difficulty picking out submarines on the SONAR and actually having to search for a hiding submarine.
- The submarine drill was carried out partly at night, lasting 20 hours.
- This is the first time that Russia and China have carried out a joint antisubmarine exercise together.
- The antisubmarine exercise began in the night between 16 October and 17 October. It was carried out by a combination of Chinese aircraft, Chinese ships, Chinese helicopters equiped with SONAR, and Russian ships.
- From this telling, it seems that the antisubmarine exercise was carried out once, meaning it took them that whole time to locate the submarine.
- Identifies the 'fixed wing aircraft' sent by the Chinese to assist in submarine detection as a varient of the Shaanxi Y8 aircraft (运-8反潜机).
- The helicopter in the photos appears to be a Harbin Z9 helicopter, although that is not confirmed in the text
- The firing exercises were done on 15 October 2021, by shooting a target dragged by a tugboat. Both sides practiced this.
- The exercise is important because it uses a moving target and one has to be precise because it is easy to hit the tugboat by mistake.
- Two of the Chinese ships, the Dongpinghu and the Liuzhou, have participated in this exercise for a number of years and apparently those sailors and officers have some personal connections with their Russian counterparts.
- Some of the Chinese ships were originally in Hong Kong and transferred on 10 October to reach the Sea of Japan by 13 October 2021.
- This is an interview of Zhang Junshe 张军社 of the Naval Research Institute 海军研究院. [He is a Chinese military officer and academic who has previously commented on Chinese military overflight into Japanese airspace and parroted the official line (https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%BC%A0%E5%86%9B%E7%A4%BE/7676500)]
- He says the exercise shows a high level of cooperation between Russia and China and is part of their cooperation on regional defense and security.
- Plugs the Nancheng as the forefront of Chinese technological capabilities.
- Claims that Russia sent its best ships, including a new missile frigate. [This must be in reference to the Russian corvettes, which were commissioned in 2020; the design itself, however, has been built since 2008, and has been succeeded by the Gremyashchiy class]
- A different reporter granted access to Chinese ships during the exercise reports a data driven command system, whereby the naval commanders receive real time information on ship position from aerial reconaissance.
- This ability is meant to empower Chinese commanders and help with targetting enemy aircraft and ships.
- Following their joint exercises in Maritime Interaction 2021, Russia and China made a joint passage of the narrow Tsugaru Strait between Honshu and Hokkaido. This is the first time that the two navies have passed through together.
- The composition of the ships that passed through the international strait was nearly identical to those that participated in the recent exercises: from China, one Renhai class destroyer, one Luyang-III class destroyer, two Jiangkai class frigates and one Fuchi class replenishment oiler; and, from Russia, two Udaloy class destroyers, two Steregushchiy class frigates and one Marshal Nedelin class missile-tracking ship.
- This article reidentifies the participating ships, clarifying that the Russian submarine is a diesel electric submarine and the Chinese submarine is a diesel submarine.
- These exercises in 2021 mark the first antisubmarine exercises between China and Russia [NOT TRUE] and the first deployment of a such a large Chinese destroyer in foreign waters.
- Russian/Chinese military exercises serve a number of purposes: they inhance combat performance, increase force interoperability, affirm commitment to military cooperation, and signal to the USA and others that Russia and China will defend each other's security interests.
- These exercises are particularly beneficial to the PLAN, which can learn from the more experienced Russian navy in areas like mine countermeasures and antisubmarine operations, and which benefits from practicing the integration of new types of ships into naval operations.
- The political impact of the Joint Sea exercises has been most pronounced. The exercises in 2015, in the Mediterranean; and in 2017, in the Baltic Sea; signalled Chinese support for Russian interests, while the 2016 exercises, in the South China Sea, signalled Russian support for Chinese interests.
- The very first Joint Sea exercise, held in 2012, featured antisubmarine warfare.
- The effectiveness of the Joint Sea exercises on the abilities and interoperability of the Russian and Chinese navies is limited. Although the two navies used a joint Radar and SONAR system in 2016 (and possibly later), this is substantially less information than NATO navies share and there is no command integration. The exercises are also smaller and of a shorter duration. Paul Schwatz of CSIS (this guy: https://www.csis.org/people/paul-n-schwartz) says that these exercises have, "done little to prepare the two navies to conduct joint naval operations against a real-world adversary".
- This opinion is further supported by your boss, Richard Weitz: "China and Russia lack the interoperability or integrated command, control, and support mechanisms required to conduct an effective combined military campaign."
- At the same time as the Maritime Interaction 2021 exercises, the American ship USS Chafee was escorted away from the exercises in the Sea of Japan on 15 October.
- The Russians made a big deal about it publically, but the US ship complied with the restrictions imposed in the maritime zone due to live fire exercises. According to the USA, both ships behavior professionally and it wasn't a big deal.
- China has made a concerted push toward 'intelligentization', whereby greater technology, including AI, will allow decision making to be concentrated among high level commanders.
- This doctrine is the opposite of the 'mission control' of greater decentralization pushed by the USA and NATO.
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