BEIJING, December 11. /TASS/. The six-day Russian-Chinese air defense drills dubbed "Aerospace Security - 2017" started in Beijing on Monday. According to China’s Defense Ministry, they will bolster cooperation between the two countries’ armies and secure a strategic balance of forces in the Pacific Rim.
The main task of the exercise is to work out joint planning of combat operations when organizing air missile defenses, operation and mutual fire support, as well as responding to sporadic and incendiary ballistic and cruise missile strikes over the two countries’ territories.
These are the second such drills currently held in Beijing. This time they are considered as a pragmatic gesture of important mutual understanding in terms of bolstering Russian-Chinese cooperation in air defense reached by the two countries’ leaders, the Chinese ministry reported. China and Russia oppose the global air defense system, and the armed forces of the two countries will strengthen cooperation for mutual security and support for regional balance, the ministry said.
The statement stressed that the drills are not directed against third countries and are aimed at strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation between the two countries’ armies.
The first Russian-Chinese computer-assisted air defense drills "Airspace Security - 2016" were held in May last year on the basis of the Central Research Institute of the Russian Armed Forces.