PLA warships return from West Pacific training

A fleet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy returned to a military port in east China’s Zhejiang Province on Tuesday after finishing a 16-day training session in the West Pacific Ocean.

The training session included comprehensive offense and defense exercises, ship-helicopter coalition antisubmarine exercises, and ship-helicopter cooperative escort drills, as well as anti-terrorism and anti-piracy drills.

The fleet, consisting of two frigates, the Yiyang and Changzhou, from the navy’s Donghai Fleet, covered a distance of more than 4,000 nautical miles during the session.

Fleet commander Yan Zhengming said the drills enhanced the vessels’ systematic combat capabilities utilizing information technologies as well as their capabilities to carry out diversified military missions.

The PLA Navy has organized several drills in open sea in the West Pacific this year.

The Yiyang and Changzhou came into service in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The two frigates joined the escort mission in the Gulf of Aden from July 2012 to January 2013.

Via: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/

Original Article