Bosphor Vostochny Strait, Vladivostok, left, and Russky Island off Sea of Japan. Russia and China have begun joint naval and air defense exercises in the Peter the Great Gulf, in the waters off the Clerk Cape, and the Sea of Japan. Photo courtesy of WikiCommons

BEIJING, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Russia and China have begun joint naval and air defense exercises in in the waters off the Clerk Cape and the Sea of Japan.

The drills are code named Joint Sea-2015 and will run until Aug. 28.


The military exercises, involving more than 20 ships from the Russian Navy and the People's Liberation Army (PLAN), include a joint amphibious assault drill, USNI News reported.

The Chinese are sending in six helicopters, five fixed-wing aircraft, 21 units of amphibious equipment and 200 marines. The Russian navy will also send in 200 marines, in addition to 16 surface ships, two submarines and 12 naval aircraft, Xinhua News Service reported.

This marks the second joint drills between Russia and China in 2015. The previous exercises took place in the Mediterranean Sea.

"We believe that the main goal of pooling our effort is to shape a collective regional security system," Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said in November. "We also expressed concern over U.S. attempts to strengthen its military and political clout in the [Asia-Pacific Region]."

The drills are designed "to improve China's and Russia's capacity in coping with maritime security threats. Navies of the the two countries will join forces to simulate anti-submarine combat, air defense and other relevant missions," Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told reporters in late July.

Earlier in August, the Russian Pacific Fleet had successfully test launched a missile system in the Sea of Japan.