China, Russia complete 3-day joint naval drill

PETER THE GREAT BAY, Russia - Chinese and Russian naval forces participating in the "Joint Sea-2013" drills wrapped up three days of maneuvers here Wednesday.

The two sides practiced maritime search and rescue in the morning and later had a live-fire exercise involving air, sea-level and underwater targets.

The maneuvers, which started Monday, culminated at 15:10 local time (0410 GMT) in a joint naval parade performed by 13 warships from both countries and three aircraft.

During the previous two days, the two navies conducted a range of drills, including air-defense, maritime replenishment, countering submarine threats, joint escort, and rescuing of hijacked ships.

The two navies held an open day on the ships ahead of the drills.

Seven vessels from China's North Sea Fleet and South Sea Fleet and 12 vessels from Russia's Pacific Fleet took part in the week-long exercises.

Three fixed-wing aircraft, five ship-borne helicopters and two special operations detachments also participated.