Japan Monitoring Russia and Chinese Naval Movements Near Home Islands
4,066Chinese and Russian warships linked up in the Sea of Japan Wednesday for the People’s Liberation Army Northern Theatre Command led Chinese-Russian “Northern Interaction 2023,” reported the PLA Daily.
The five-ship Chinese Surface Action Group (SAG) consists of destroyers CNS Guiyang (119) and CNS Qiqihar (121), frigates CNS Zaozhuang (542) and CNS Rizhao (598) and fleet oiler CNS Taihu (889). The Russian Navy SAG consists of destroyers RFS Admiral Panteleyev (548) and RFS Admiral Tributs (564) and corvettes RFS Gremyashchiy (337) and RFS Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov (339).
Rear Adm. Valery Kazakov, commander of the Primorsky Flotilla of the Russian Navy Pacific fleet, commands the Russian SAG and serves as deputy commander for the exercise. The PLA Daily reported that Kazakov and his staff boarded Qiqihar, which will serve as the command ship. Land-based aircraft from both countries will also participate
Japan tracked the PLA SAG as it sailed through the Tsushima Strait on Monday along with the transit of a Dongdiao-class surveillance ship the day before, officials said.
On Sunday, surveillance ship Kaiyangxing (796) was sighted sailing northeast in an area 93 miles southwest of Tsushima. From Sunday to Monday, it sailed northeast through the Tsushima Strait and then sailed into the Sea of Japan.
On Monday, the PLAN SAG had been sighted sailing northeast in an area 80 miles southwest of Tsushima and the PLAN then sailed into the Sea of Japan. Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) fast attack craft JS Otaka (PG-826), minesweepers JS Yakushima (MSC-602) and JS Toyoshima (MSC- 685) and a JMSDF P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) of Fleet Air Wing 1, based at JMSDF Kanoya Air Base on the main island of Kyushu, monitored the PLAN ships.