Details of the first joint Russian-Chinese submarine exercise have been published in a military magazine, which said the two countries had shared sonar data and carried out rescue exercises.
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The exercise in early August involved two Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines, the Russian Volkhov and Chinese Great Wall 210, with two Russian surface ships providing support throughout the exercise.
The 15-day exercise took place after the Joint Sea 2025 exercise involving the two navies in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.
According to China’s Ordnance Industry Science Technology magazine, the two subs passed through the Tsushima Strait that divides South Korea and Japan, entering the East China Sea before finally returning to their bases, covering around 2,000 nautical miles (3,700km or 2,302 miles) in total.
“[It] sent a clear message to the United States … underwater dominance in the western Pacific is no longer to be monopolised by a single power,” the magazine said, adding that the exercise had also shown the high levels of strategic trust between the two countries.
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The series of operations near Japan, held around the anniversary of the country’s surrender in World War II, was also a gesture against the US-Japan alliance, the report said.
As part of the patrol, the two submarines practised detecting simulated enemy submarines, while also sharing sonar data.