Ships, anti-submarine aircraft, and fighters from the Eastern Theater of China have recently conducted joint fire assault exercises in the southwest and southeast of Taiwan Island, according to Chinese reports.
During the drill, the types of aircraft deployed included Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, Y-8 electronic jammers, KJ-500 early warning aircraft, 6 J-16 fighter jets, and 2 H-6K bombers.
As defined by the Chinese military, joint fire assault refers to the use of firepower from artillery, ground-guided units, surface ship units and aviation units to carry out assaults on important targets in the enemy’s depth.
The aforementioned exercise was a typical battle conducted to rehearse subjects in the pre-determined directions of southeast and southwest, and to rehearse the simultaneous and sudden delivery of forces in both directions to deter Taiwanese forces.
In addition, China’s landing forces are also preparing for battle. The 72nd Army Amphibious Heavy Synthetic Brigade under the Eastern Theater Command organized an equipment rescue and repair exercise, simulating an assault vehicle being hit by the “enemy” and losing power due to water leakage. And the troops deployed drones, unmanned vehicles and other new auxiliary equipment.
During the same period, the synthetic brigade service battalion in Fujian organized armed swim across training.
The 83rd Group Army under the Central Theater Command, which is a strategic mobile force, used civilian boats for armored equipment ferrying and loading training.
Currently, Bohai Ferry has at least 11 large ro-ro passenger ships that can carry nearly two heavily armed, heavy-duty combined brigades. This kind of capacity cannot be underestimated in wartime.
The Chinese military also deployed the Type 072A large tank landing ship to participate in the exercise.
