For the first time, China Air Force joined naval air force to participate in international military competition.

Xinhua News Agency, Ryazan, Russia, July 27th (Huang Shubo, Pei Shaohua) Eleven China Air Force and two Navy military aircraft all arrived at Gargilevo Airport in Ryazan, Russia on the 25th, and jointly participated in the "International Military Competition -2019" and "Aviation Darts" for the first time, which became a highlight of China’s military going abroad.

According to Dong Li, Deputy Chief of Staff of China Air Force, the "International Military Competition -2019" and "Aviation Darts" project will be held at the "Du Burovic" shooting range in Ryazan, Russia, and China Air Force will compete in four groups: fighter group, bomber group, long-range aviation group and transport group. Among them, China Air Force Aviation and Navy Aviation participated in the bomber group project competition at the same time, which was the first time that China’s air force and navy competed with other countries’ troops on the international military competition stage.

Dong Li said that with the establishment and improvement of the new pattern of China Military Commission’s general management, theater main battle and service main construction, the exchange activities between services have increased year by year, such as the participation of naval aviation in the air force’s "golden helmet" competitive assessment against air combat and the air force’s participation in the navy’s actual live-fire exercises, and the exchanges between services have gained a lot. This cross-border transition of air and naval aviation formations indicates that the China Army has the ability to organize joint forces of services to go abroad to carry out tasks, and also shows that the level of joint training of air and naval forces has been improved.

"International Military Competition -2019" will be held in early August. Ten countries including Russia, China and Kazakhstan will jointly host 32 events. It is estimated that 216 teams from 34 countries will compete on the same stage. Among them, China’s army will participate in 16 events, and the Air Force will also participate in the "Airborne Platoon" event held at the "Redwood Boat" shooting range in Pskov, Russia.