Shenzhen destroyer visit Cochin; PLA’s largest military exercise spread over 2 months commences; Jinan Military Area Command conducts a 1,300 km maneuver drill involving over 30 trucks
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  • The PLA Navy’s ‘Shenzhen’ missile destroyer, returning from the Gulf of Aden, arrived at Cochin on August 8, 2009 for a 3-day goodwill visit. A number of naval activities were planned during its stay, including a discussion on its experience as an escort vessel in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast1.

    The PLA launched it largest-ever military exercise on August 11 aimed at testing its long-distance mobility. The exercises involved the deployment of about 50,000 heavily-armored troops across thousands of miles. The army divisions and their air units were deployed in unfamiliar areas far from their garrison training bases by civilian rail and air transport. Reports noted that an army division from each of the military commands of Shenyang, Lanzhou, Jinan and Guangzhou were participating in a series of live-fire drills under this exercise lasting for two months2.

    In continuing military readiness programmes, reports noted that a convoy of over 30 trucks of a truck transport battalion under the Jinan Military Area Command conducted a 3-day long-range maneuver drill in early August during the course of which the battalion covered more than 1,300 km3. Reports also noted that one of China’s airborne troop units has developed a standard individual portable system to satisfy the demands of the troops in field operation, training and daily life. The system includes over 20 components4.

    The Chinese government is expected to recruit the first Chinese female astronaut by the end of this year. About 16 female fighter pilots have graduated from a pilot training institute of the PLA Air Force in April 2009, becoming the first batch of Chinese women to have qualified to fly fighter jets5.

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