BEIJING, June 6 (ChinaMil) -- A ground joint air defense exercise codenamed "Blue Shield-18" and organized by the PLA Air Force with participation of air defense units from the PLA Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force kicked off at a mission area in north China on the morning of June 5.
According to Xiang Chaoming, head of the exercise's directing group and deputy chief of the Ground Air Defense Directorate of the Air Force Staff Headquarters, this year's Blue Shield exercise highlights realistic combat training with coordination of air defense troops of multiple military services, aiming to enhance the inter-service coordinated combat capability and the commanding capability of air defense base.
The joint exercise consists of drills of 10 subjects such as force projection, combat planning, and air-ground confrontations.
Coordinated and joint operation is the key to success in the future battlefield. The air defense base is the main entity in future air defense operation, said Meng Lin, chief director of the exercise and head of an air force training base.
Going forward, more efforts will be made to promote the normalization, standardization and institutionalization of the joint air defense training exercise, so as to boost the IT-based joint air defense capabilities of the PLA, Meng added.
