YINCHUAN, Aug. 12 -- The first-phase joint planning drill of exercise ZAPAD/INTERACTION-2021 kicked off at the combined arms tactical training base of the PLA Army in Qingtongxia City of West China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on August 10, 2021. The joint command of the Chinese and Russian armed forces carries out corresponding organizing and coordination work.
A three-level commanding system is established in the exercise, with the director department formed by China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) at the top level.
During the exercise, the director department is responsible for setting up complex scenarios and guiding the Chinese and Russian joint command to optimize commanding activities on intelligence, decision-making, planning, control and evaluation.
The joint command, which is at the second level of the commanding system in the exercise, was formed by the PLA Western Theater Command and the Eastern Military District of Russia, focusing on situation judgment and plan formulating.
A China-Russia commanding information system was initiated in the drill, which connects various commanding posts, together with the individual platforms at the third level of the commanding system if necessary, realizing the real-time information sharing and commanding data communication.
Both sides’ participating members use Gantt charts and mind maps to visually present the results of planning in a standardized manner, which greatly improves the efficiency of joint planning and the capability of decision-making and command of the two armed forces.