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World Defense & Security News - China
 
 
 
China sent bombers, fighters and ships in the Bashi Channel for combined exercises
 
The aviation force of the Chinese PLA Navy sent its aircraft on June 10 to the airspace over the sea area in east of the Bashi Channel, West Pacific Ocean, to conduct a coordinated training exercise with a Chinese naval taskforce cruising in that sea area, Chinese Navy Spokesperson Liang Yang said on Wednesday, June 10, 2015.
     
The aviation force of the Chinese PLA Navy sent its aircraft on June 10 to the airspace over the sea area in east of the Bashi Channel, West Pacific Ocean, to conduct a coordinated training exercise with a Chinese naval taskforce cruising in that sea area, Chinese Navy Spokesperson Liang Yang said on Wednesday, June 10, 2015. Pictures revealed that the aircraft employed during these drills include the Xian H-6K strategic bomber
     
Liang Yang said aircraft from the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force joined a fleet Wednesday morning for an exercise east of the Bashi Channel, which sits between Y'Ami Island of the Philippines and Taiwan's Lanyu or Orchid Island.

According to WantChinaTimes, photos revealed that the aircraft deployed include H-6G/K twin-engine strategic jet bombers and J-11B air superiority fighter jets.

Emerging in prototype form in 2007, the H-6K is the most radically modified variant of the The Xian H-6 strategic bomber, replacing its glass nose with a large solid nose housing a large radar and new electro-optical targeting pod. Its use of two Russian-made 12-ton thrust D-30-KP2 turbofans and lighter-weight composites have reportedly extended its range by 30% to a combat radius of 3,500 km. The H-6K carries six KD-20 LACMs on wing pylons plus one or more in its bomb bay. It can also carry a wide range of new precision-guided munitions available from four Chinese weapon manufacturers.

China claims self-ruled and democratic Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to gain control, while China and the Philippines have one of the most bitter disputes over the South China Sea of all the claimants, said Reuters.

The joint drills tested and perfected battle strategies and "achieved their expected aims", navy spokesman Liang Yang said in a ministry statement.

The exercises, in the waters east of the Bashi Channel, were routine annual drills, not aimed at any specific country or region and accorded with international law and practices, Liang said.

"During the drills there was no impact upon freedom of navigation or fly-through in the relevant seas or air," he added.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said it monitored the drills closely as they were carried out close to the country's ADIZ, adding that it was not the first time China had conducted exercises in the area.

The drills were first announced this week on the PLA Navy's official microblog page, which said the Miyakato Strait south of Japan has also been designated as routine training area.

The post added that efforts to increase and intensity training across all areas are being conducted in line with President Xi Jinping's demand that the PLA be "able to fight, and fight to win."