Russian Defense Ministry: Russian and Chinese warships have completed patrolling in the Pacific OceanThe second joint patrol of the Pacific Ocean by ships of the Russian Navy and the Naval Forces of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA Navy) has ended.
A detachment of ships of the Pacific Fleet (TOF) returned to Vladivostok. This was announced by the Russian Defense Ministry on October 4.
Within three weeks, the warships of the Pacific Fleet and the PLA Navy passed through the Japan, Okhotsk, Bering, Philippine and East China Seas. The joint detachment visited the Bering Sea for the first time and circumnavigated part of the archipelago of the Aleutian Islands. In total, over 7 thousand nautical miles were covered by the ships during the campaign.
The sailors of the two countries practiced maneuvering as part of various ship formations and organizing communication between the ships of the grouping. Joint trainings were conducted, during which anti-submarine tasks were solved, issues of conducting search and rescue at sea, organization of anti-aircraft defense of detachments were improved, anti-submarine and ship-based search and rescue helicopters were flown.
In addition, the crews of the warships of Russia and China held a farewell ceremony at sea, at which the ships of the two countries lined up in wake columns and greeted each other with sound signals, each laid down on their own course.
The tasks of the patrol included strengthening naval cooperation between the two countries, maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, monitoring the sea area, as well as protecting objects of maritime economic activity of the Russian Federation and China.
During the patrol, the Russian Navy was represented by a detachment of ships of the Pacific Fleet consisting of the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov, the corvettes Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov, Perfect and Loud, as well as the medium sea tanker Pechenga. From the PLA Navy, the destroyer "Nian Chan", the patrol ship "Yang Chen" and the integrated supply vessel "Dong Pinghu" participated in the patrol.
On September 3, warships of the Russian Navy and the Chinese Navy conducted artillery firing on surface targets in the Sea of Japan as part of the Vostok-2022 exercises. Also on this day, the participants of the strategic command and staff exercise (SKSHU) jointly worked out tactical maneuvers at sea and conducted training on communication between ships.
During the strategic security consultations held in China on September 19, Russia and China agreed on further cooperation through their defense ministries with an emphasis on joint exercises. In addition, the parties expressed concern about the escalation of tension on the part of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, including in the Taiwan region.
