Chinese news outlet GlobalTimes reported that, an expeditionary training flotilla of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy recently conducted a month-long exercise in the Sulawesi Sea and the West Pacific after crossing the equator from the South China Sea, holding joint drills with Indonesian Navy in the process. Unlike previous PLA Navy expeditionary training groups that often featured larger warships, this flotilla included corvettes, showing that this type of smaller coastal defense vessel is also capable of carrying out far sea tasks.
The Southern Command Navy organized an expeditionary training flotilla consisting the Type 054A frigate Liuzhou, Type 056A corvettes Suqian and Jingmen, and the Type 903 comprehensive replenishment ship Weishanhu in a series of far sea exercises which saw the warships sail more than 6,700 nautical miles. The flotilla crossed the equator from the South China Sea and held more than 20 combat-oriented drills including live-fire shooting with main guns and close-in weapon systems, coordinated anti-submarine drills between ships and helicopters, air defense against.
The flotilla crossed the equator from the South China Sea and held more than 20 combat-oriented drills including live-fire shooting with main guns and close-in weapon systems, coordinated anti-submarine drills between ships and helicopters, air defense against incoming missiles and replenishment-at-sea. As a part of the expeditionary training, the Liuzhou and the Suqian held a joint maritime exercise with the Indonesian Navy near Jakarta. The joint drill was successfully held a day earlier, boosting cooperation and mutual trust between the two countries’ navies.
The expeditionary training and the joint exercise are regular arrangements in accordance with the annual training schedule. This is not the first expeditionary training group the PLA Southern Theater Command Navy has organized in 2021. A group featuring the Type 052D guided missile destroyer Yinchuan, Type 071 amphibious landing ship Wuzhishan, Type 901 comprehensive replenishment ship Chaganhu, Type 054A guided missile frigate Hengyang and electronic surveillance ship Tianshuxing also embarked on a far sea exercise across the equator in February.
