By Wang Shangjian and Liu Ying
Vehicle-mounted rapid-fire mortar systems participate in the live-fire shooting training at the training ground of Kommadam Academy of the Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) during the China-Laos "Friendship Shield-2024" joint exercise on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Yi Ding)
VIENTIANE, July 11 -- The China-Laos "Friendship Shield-2024" joint exercise entered the mixed-group joint training phase at the training ground of Kommadam Academy of the Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) from July 6 to 9 as scheduled.
Instructional exchanges were organized for live-fire shooting with various fire arms, including light and heavy machine guns, sniper rifles, grenade launchers, and vehicle-mounted mortars, aiming to improve the basic skills of participating troops of the two sides in rapid pistol shooting, rifle shooting in different positions, and long-distance sniper rifle shooting in unfamiliar terrain.
Participating troops of the two sides also actively engaged in exchanges involving armored infantry squad coordination inside and outside vehicles, mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) equipment operations, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) countermeasures, catching and grappling, battlefield casualty treatment, and others.
Manned-unmanned team ing was a highlight of the mixed-group training. The two sides jointly drilled the subject of battlefield explosive ordnance disposal. The command group directed engineers from both sides to perform precision fast-roping. The Chinese engineers operated drones to guide EOD robot s to the operational site. The robots successfully relocated explosives to designated locations for Lao engineers to swiftly organize disposal operations. The coordination between the two sides was seamless and efficient.
It is learned that the two sides will carry out targeted training based on various subjects, in a bid to lay a solid foundation for the successful completion of the exercise.