A PLA airforce J-10A fighter is seen during a training module in preparation for the International Army Games. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air force will send H-6K bombers, J-10A fighters, JH-7A fighter-bombers, IL-76 and Y-9 transport aircrafts, and a team of airborne troops to Russia to participate in the International Army Games 2018. It will be the first time that H-6K bombers and Y-9 transport aircraft have gone abroad to take part in military competitions. Xinhua
SCMP: China to send strategic bombers, fighter jets for war games in Russia
H-6Ks – used for patrols around South China Sea and Taiwan Strait – among Chinese aircraft taking part in international drills this month
China’s air force will send strategic bombers, fighter jets and transport aircraft to take part in war games in Russia this month, as Beijing tries to boost defence ties with Moscow.
Among the Chinese military aircraft at the International Army Games on July 28 will be H-6K bombers, which have carried out patrols around the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Iran will also join the exercises.
It is the first time the strategic bombers and Y-9 transport aircraft, which has a range of around 7,800km, will participate in overseas war games, a spokesman for the PLA Air Force said on Thursday.
The H-6K bombers – with 1,600km air-launched cruise missiles and reportedly a combat range of 3,500km – conducted take-off and landing drills over the South China Sea in May, which Washington said would “raise tensions and destabilise the region”.
It came after the US Air Force flew B-52 bombers in the “vicinity” of the South China Sea in late April.
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Update #1: PLA air force to send H-6K bombers to Int'l Army Games -- Xinhuanet
Update #2: China Sends Strategic Bombers for International Drills in Russia -- Sputnik
WNU editor: Another sign on how close Russian - Chinese military ties are becoming.
