Russian Vostok-2018: How Chinese and Russian troops benefit from drills

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02:40

Military drills are one way Chinese and Russian forces have deepened their cooperation. The "Vostok-2018" exercise, now underway in Russia's Far East, is one example of that. Our reporter Ge Yunfei has been following the Chinese military in the past two weeks at the drill site. He's there to find out what changes the many drills have brought to the two armies.

24 helicopters from the Chinese army participated in the just concluded Russian Vostok-2018 drills. And Senior Colonel Li Xincheng, a 20-year veteran pilot, is the commander of these aerial attacking machines. Though participated in four China-Russia joint drills before, he admitted this one is much more difficult.

SEN. COL. LI XINCHENG, COMMANDERHELICOPTER BATTALION, PLA 79TH ARMY CORPS "Unlike the many drills before, this time from the top to the bottom, we have bomber-fighters, helicopters and tanks attacking at the same time. This is a three-dimensional attacking system. Any mistake could lead to accidental casualties."

Li said this dangerous but efficient attacking system is not commonly seen in China's domestic drills. But the Russians, who have been fighting the war in Syria, have already been used to it.

SEN. COL. LI XINCHENG, COMMANDERHELICOPTER BATTALION, PLA 79TH ARMY CORPS "Almost all the Russian helicopter pilots in this drill have all participated in the Syria Conflict. They have very rich real combat experience. And their equipments have been tested and modified in the real battle field. So this time, we came here with modesty."

GE YUNFEITSUGOL TRAINING CENTER, RUSSIA "In the past two decades, the Russian army has been engaged in several conflicts. And their rich combat experience is something useful for the Chinese forces."

LI SHUYIN, RESEARCHERPLA ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES "The Russian army has fought in Syria for years. We can learn from their experience how to fight in cities, in deserts, and in mountains."

For the Russians, they can also learn something from their Chinese counterparts. In modern warfare, crossing a water to pursue and attack the enemy is essential for armored forces. It's also one of the important contents of the drill.

CHI XUWEN, STAFFPONTOON-BRIDGE BATTALION "In 2015, when we held a joint military drill with Russia, we found out that we had some skills for building floating bridges that the Russians didn't have. But a year later in another joint drill, we found that they had started to use those skills."

Experts say Vostok-2018 is a new pattern for the military cooperation for the Chinese and Russian armies. There will be more cooperation in the future. Ge Yunfei, CGTN, Tsugol Training Center in East Russia.