PLA units hone their battle skills

The People's Liberation Army conducted a series of military drills over the past few weeks to fine-tune its capabilities of amphibious operations, Chinese media have reported.

The Nanjing Military Command Area held a live-ammunition drill landing combat troops. Three landing ships carrying armored forces landed near the shore, releasing dozens of amphibian tanks, China Central Television reported.

The troops underwent a simulated attack using live gunfire starting about 3 kilometers from the shore. They used a smokescreen device to conceal their movements, and their assault was supported by remote artillery fire.

More than 10,000 soldiers and 1,000 armored vehicles took part in the drill, which lasted for more than 20 days in August. Landing craft and combat vessels from the navy, and the air force's ground attack aircraft, bombers and fighter jets, as well as attack helicopters from the ground force's aviation wing also played big roles in the drill. The troops faced unexpected difficulties, such as a typhoon, and examined and improved their joint operations, Nanfang Daily reported.

The Nanjing Military Command Area conducted a night drill involving artillery and anti-aircraft crews on Thursday and gained experience in exchanging information between the units, gathering intelligence and evaluating the enemy's damage and firepower coordination, according to people.com.cn, a website affiliated with People's Daily.

The Jinan Military Command Area conducted an amphibious landing drill involving a group of commandos. They trained in a variety of scenarios including infiltrating an uninhabited island, fighting in various settings on the island, clearing land mines and occupying an enemy command site.

The missile force of the Jinan Military Command Area launched 16 short-range missiles during the drill and destroyed all targets, according to Nanfang Daily.

The Guangzhou Military Command Area also conducted a string of drills.

A large-scale exercise was carried out along the costal areas to test the command area's capabilities in amphibious operations. Another drill was performed in a mountainous region involving self-propelled artillery vehicles, main battle tanks and attack helicopters, Nanfang Daily reported.

Drills in the Chengdu Military Command Area focused on improving anti-aircraft forces, the report said.

The PLA East China Sea Fleet staged a large-scale military exercise using live ammunition in the East China Sea, CCTV reported on Sunday.

All the main combat forces of the fleet participated in the drill, designed to strengthen the joint-operations capability. More than 40 missiles were launched during the drill, CCTV said.