PRETORIA, January 4. /TASS/. South Africa, Russia and China will hold a ten-day naval exercise this February in the Indian Ocean off South Africa’s east coast, the South African online news portal Defense Web reported on Tuesday citing the South African National Defense Force.

The drills will take place off South Africa’s coastal province KwaZulu-Natal from 17 to 24 February, the publication said. The exercise carries the same name Mosi (Smoke) as the first involving the three countries, which was held in South African territorial waters off the Cape of Good Hope in the Atlantic, near Cape Town, in November 2019.

This year, the drills are expected to cover the area from Durban to Richard’s Bay, which are 87 nautical miles (or 160 kilometers) apart. The South African Department of Defense announced that according to preliminary plans, the exercise will see two Russian warships. In particular, the drills include gunnery, force protection and air defense practice.