Russian Vostok-2018: China's biggest overseas military drill

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02:14

The milestone military drills continue for Russian and Chinese soldiers. Vostok 2018 is not only Russia's largest military drill since 1981, but also China's largest overseas drill since the army's reforms. CGTN's Ge Yunfei checks in with Chinese commanders at the drill site to find out how things are going.

Helicopters, bomber-fighters, tanks and armored vehicles, as Vostok-2018 moves along, Chinese forces are using weaponry mostly seen in a typical warfare. But in the past, coordination of ground and air forces was not very smooth for the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

SEN. COL.WU KELI, VICE-CHIEF OF STAFF PLA 78TH ARMY CORPS "In past drills, it always took a lot of time for land and air forces to coordinate, make plans and respond to emergencies."

In recent years, the Chinese armed forces have gone through a series of restructuring reforms like setting up a new joint command-and-control system.

GE YUNFEI TSUGOL TRAINING RANGE, RUSSIA "The participation in Russia's Vostok-2018 is PLA's first large-scale overseas drill after PLA's military reform of the chain of command."

It's also the first time that the newly-established Joint Staff Departments of the Central Military Commission is leading an overseas drill in the field.

MAJOR GEN. LI WEIYA, DEPUTY COMMANDER COMMAND HEADQUARTER OF PLA IN VOSTOK-2018 "This is a strategic drill in cooperation with Russian forces. China's elite joint combat troops are participating under the command of China's strategic and tactical commanding departments."

The flat and joint commanding system is welcomed by the troops.

SEN. COL. HAO YUNTAO, BRIGADE COMMANDER CHINA AIR FORCE "Now the commanding system is much more flat and efficient. It becomes much quicker for us combat troops to carry out orders."

SEN. COL. WU KELI, VICE-CHIEF OF STAFF PLA 78TH ARMY CORPS "But this time under the new joint command system, our coordination with the air forces is much more efficient."

The final drill with full fire power of Vostok-2018 will take place on Thursday. Ge Yunfei, CGTN, Tsugol Training Range.