Peace Mission 2007

yongke said:

I can't believe there are so little interest in a thread for what is arguably one of the biggest military extracise for China. I am just dieing to see some hardcore pictures. Please share.

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bd popeye said:

I hear you..However getting up to date military pictures out of the PRC is difficult. Unless it is an exhibition or parade of some sort.

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MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Nikita Petrov) - The Russian Armed
Forces have been rather active this summer. So far this year large-scale troop
exercises have been held in the Leningrad and North Caucasus Military Districts,
as well as in the Russian Far East and in the Northern Fleet.

Strategic bombers flew simulated long-range combat missions; 2,500 Russian
paratroopers performed group jumps alongside their German counterparts; and
another exercise involving elements of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet and the
U.S. Navy spanned the North Atlantic.

Yet in all these operations, there has been one prominent absence: Defense
Minister Anatoly Serdyukov did not attend any of these exercises, including
those intended to assess the performance of the generals commanding the new
eastern and western strategic sectors.

This is because Serdyukov is busy preparing for the centerpiece of this summer's
military exercises. "Peace Mission 2007" will involve all six Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries (Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), 4000 troops, nearly 100 aircraft, and an
unspecified number of logistical support units.

This follows a previous joint exercise, "Peace Mission 2005", which saw
large-scale amphibious landings on China's Yellow Sea coast. That exercise
caused some controversy, and was seen by some as preparation for a Chinese
invasion of Taiwan.

In contrast, Russian commanders have described "Peace Mission 2007" as an
anti-terrorist exercise, and have emphasized that it is not aimed at any third
country.

As such, says Colonel General Vladimir Moltenskoy, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of
the Russian Army, it will not involve any heavy military equipment. Instead
border guards, elements of the Russian Interior Ministry's Security Force and
special police units will take part.

Mechanized-infantry combat vehicles and armored personnel carriers, rather than
tanks, will also take part in the exercise.

The dual location exercise, planned for August 9-17, will be held in Urumqi, the
capital of China's Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Area, and at the range of the
Russian Army's 34th Motorized Rifle Division near Chebarkul town, about 50 miles
(80 km) west of Chelyabinsk, in Russia's Volga-Urals Military District.

While the bulk of the troops will be Russian and Chinese, Kazakhstan and
Tajikistan will contribute one airborne company each. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
will send an airborne platoon and staff officers, respectively.

The exercise will also involve 2,000 Russian and 1,700 Chinese soldiers, plus an
unspecified number of Russian logistics-support units. The Russian Air Force
will contribute six Ilyushin Il-76 Candid transport planes, nine Sukhoi Su-25
Frogfoot ground-attack jets, 14 Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunships and 18 Mi-8
Hip helicopters.

China will provide six Il-76 aircraft, eight JH-7-A fighter-bombers, 16 JG-9-W
and 16 Mi-17 Hip helicopters.

Moreover, each side will contribute 18 122-mm and 100-mm artillery systems.

The initial phase will be conducted in Urumqi and will involve the heads of SOC
general staffs. Under the exercise scenario, they will receive information about
a terrorist attack on a small town in the Urals 2,000 km away. The participants
will then brief their respective national leaders on the situation, compile
plans to contain the conflict and prepare for a military operation against
terrorist units.

The generals will face the considerable logistical challenge of deploying 1700
Chinese troops and their equipment, by rail and air, from Xinjiang to central
Russia.

It took SOC military experts six rounds of talks to coordinate all aspects of
the upcoming war games. Nonetheless, not all problems have been ironed out.

Kazakhstan, though a member of the SCO and a participant in the exercise, has
failed to pass legislation allowing foreign troops to cross its territory. The
most direct route from Xinjiang to Chelyabinsk in central Russia would be
through Kazakhstan.

Russian troops have been training near Chebarkul since early June; and the first
Chinese trains are scheduled to arrive on July 27.

On August 16, the leaders of the SOC countries - Russian President Vladimir
Putin, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev,
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and Uzbek
President Islam Karimov - will meet in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

The next day, they will watch the final phase of "Peace Mission 2007."

The leaders of the four SCO observer countries, i.e. Iran, Pakistan, India and
Mongolia, will not be invited to the exercise. However, they will be represented
by their respective military attaches accredited in Moscow. 400 accredited
foreign journalists will represent the wider international community.

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Roger604 said:

Well that's disappointing. Waste of a great opportunity to show off some real hardware and do some joint operations.

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yongke said:

I can't believe there are so little interest in a thread for what is arguably one of the biggest military extracise for China. I am just dieing to see some hardcore pictures. Please share.

Click to expand...