By Chen Runchu and Zhang Jie
GUANGZHOU, Mar. 4 -- The far seas joint training task force of the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command completed its training tasks and returned to a military port in Zhanjiang City, south China's Guangdong Province on March 3.
The mission is a routine arrangement within the PLA Southern Theater Command's annual training plan, is not aimed at any specific target and conforms to relevant international law and practices.
The task force consisted of guided-missile destroyer Hefei (Hull 174), guided-missile frigate Huangshan (Hull 570), amphibious dock landing ship Jinggangshan (Hull 999), and comprehensive supply ship Honghu (Hull 906) and ship-borne helicopters. It set out for the mission from Zhanjiang on February 5 and carried out combat readiness patrols and far sea drills. The 26-day mission saw the warships sailing through more than 7,900 nautical miles in the South China Sea, East Indian Ocean and West Pacific Ocean.
During the mission, the task force conducted training on more than 20 subjects including air defense and anti-missile operations, explored and verified basic equipment performance and systematic support capabilities of the naval surface warship task force, and improved the combat tactics and training methods.
The command post of the task force was composed of the navy, air force and rocket force personnel assigned to the PLA Southern Theater Command. Staff officers from different services brought their expertise together, jointly improved the quality of joint operations and formed a set of refined, standardized and programmed joint command processes.
Li Yizhen, the leading officer of the command post, introduced that the full-system, full-element, and full-process realistic combat training exercise has greatly improved the troops’ capabilities of rapid judgment, decision-making, command and operation, which would lay a solid foundation for future missions.
