Russia and China carried out joint bomber exercises on Wednesday in a sign of increased military cooperation.
New: Russia’s Tu-95MS strategic missile bomber and #PLAAF Hong-6k strategic bombers carried out joint aerial patrols over Sea of Japan and East China Sea under the 2022 Military Cooperation Plan. For the first time, Russian jets landed in PRC and Chinese jets landed in #Russia pic.twitter.com/KyCAdGO2ZK
— Dhairya Maheshwari (@dhairyam14) November 30, 2022
What made these exercises particularly noteworthy was that it was the first time Russian and Chinese bombers landed at each others airfields. Geolocated footage shows Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers taking off from what was likely the Hangzhou Airbase in Zhejiang, China. It remains unclear which Russian airbase Chinese H-6 jet bombers landed at, but it is suspected to be the the Ukrainka Air Base in the far East.
??????????????????https://t.co/XQQYuREFAq pic.twitter.com/O0XmmvvNCi
— ????????? (@jointstaffpa) November 30, 2022
Likewise, Russian and Chinese aircraft carried out joint patrols over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the patrol consisted of H-6s and Tu-95s, which were escorted by Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S multi-role fighters. Likewise Chinese Y-20 tankers and J-16 fighter jets also participated. These patrols prompted South Korea and Japan to scramble fighter jets as the aircraft crossed into both countries’ air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
