The Chinese air force will reportedly dispatch strategic bombers, fighter jets and transport aircraft to participate in international drills in Russia later this month.
A spokesman from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force China said in a report published in the South China Morning Post on Friday that Xian H-6K bombers, which have been patrolling the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, will take part in the International Army Games in southern Russia and parts of the Caucasus on July 28.
It is the first time the strategic bombers and Y-9 transport aircraft, which has a range of around 7,800 kilometers, will participate in overseas military exercises.
China will join Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the upcoming drills.
Yue Gang, a retired colonel with the PLA, told the Hong Kong-based news agency that China’s goal was to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the bombers.
“It is really difficult to know how big the gap is between the Chinese aircraft and the ones used by overseas air forces without joining overseas exercises like this,” he said. “So the aim is to learn from the advanced bombers of Russia.”
Yue stressed that the PLA’s air force sought to learn from Russia about both hardware development and pilot training.
