Russia and China to hold computer-assisted military drills

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right gestures next to Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov before they leave after a joint press conference held at the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing, China, Friday, April 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Russia and China will hold the first computer-assisted missile defense exercise in May 2016, TASS reports.

The press office of Russian Defense Ministry said, “The Russian and Chinese defense ministers decided to hold the first Air and Space Security 2016 joint computer-assisted command and staff exercise in May 2016 on the premises of the Central Research Institute of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Aerospace Defense Force to practice missile defense. The exercise will aim to practice combined operations of Russian and Chinese air and missile defense task forces to provide protection from accidental and provocative attacks of ballistic and cruise missiles.”

Previously Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu has declared the forthcoming military drills when he met with Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan on April 27. He has said, “We highly appreciate a high level of Russian-Chinese contacts both at the state and defense levels. This year we are going to hold more exercises and events than in the past years,”

On same issue, Sputnik published a piece about Russian-Chinese Hypersonic Gliders and wrote, “Both Russia and China have recently successfully tested their offset hypersonic gliders, capable of breaching the American THAAD system (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), which it plans to deploy in South Korea; the test comes as a “warning to the US,” according to Chinese military experts.”

The main aim is briefly explained in the piece and this supports the forthcoming military cooperation between Russia and China, “The US proposes to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, claiming it is needed to protect its regional allies from North Korea. The proposal has already been condemned by both China and Russia as an aggravation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.”