PLA Navy, PLA Air Force to conduct free air-combat confrontation drill

A free air-combat confrontation drill between an aviation detachment equipped with several fighters assigned by the aviation unit under the East China Sea Fleet of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and a troop unit under the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) will be conducted, the first of its kind in the history of aviation troops of the PLAN and the PLAAF, according to the leading organ of the PLAN on August 18, 2014.

The free air-combat confrontation drill will be conducted on the one-to-one and two-to-two basis respectively among the two sides' third-generation fighters.

The drill will focus on studying how to deepen the joint operations and improve the joint-combat capability by carrying out the air-combat confrontation at various altitudes according to their tactical needs to lay a foundation for the PLA to organize its different military services for normalized joint training.

The PLAN's troops to participate in the drill are from the "Naval Air Eagle Regiment" which established the first "Blue Army" detachment equipped with the third-generation fighters under the aviation force of the PLAN.

The PLAAF's troops to participate in the drill are from a regiment which was the first regiment equipped with the third-generation fighters under the PLAAF. The regiment has made outstanding achievements for many times in the "Gold Helmet" air-combat competitions of the PLAAF.

The aviation force of the PLAN, as the main force in safeguarding China's maritime rights and interests, will take this rare opportunity to strengthen the experience exchange and upgrade its capability of performing diversified military missions, according to a leader of the aviation unit of the East China Sea Fleet of the PLAN.