Representational image. AP
New Delhi: As US carrier strike group began operating in South China Sea, the Shandong aircraft carrier group of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy held a series of confrontational drills in the contested waterway.
Consisting of several different types of warships and dozens of warplanes, the Shandong aircraft carrier group conducted realistic combat-oriented confrontational exercises in the South China Sea, Global Times quoted PLA Navy as saying in a statement on Saturday.
The drills simulated hostile aircraft attacks, and J-15 fighter jets took off from the Shandong and carried out interception training, the statement added.
During the exercises, the carrier group also practiced cross-service multidimensional attack and defense on the surface, in the air and underwater, with new J-15 pilots becoming certified for nighttime operational capabilities, marking another big step toward forming a systematic combat capability, the report quoted the PLA Navy as saying.
On Friday, US navy said that its Nimitz carrier strike group was carrying out exercises in the South China Sea as part of its “routine operations in the Indo-Pacific”.
Beijing has deployed military bases on artificial islands it has created there and claims nearly the whole vital South China Sea.
Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines also have claims to the resource-rich waters.
Washington calls Beijing’s claims to the waterway “unlawful” and regularly sends warships through the area in what it calls “freedom of navigation” exercises.
In a statement on Friday, the US navy said the Nimitz carrier strike group — comprised of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a guided-missile cruiser and three guided-missile destroyers — conducted “maritime strike training” as well as “anti-submarine operations” in the South China Sea.
The carrier strike group also carried out “integrated multi-domain and joint training between surface and air elements, and flight operations with fixed and rotary wing aircraft”, the navy said.
With inputs from agencies
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