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RUSSIA, CHINA PLAN JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES

RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, February 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and China will complete in two months the preparation for the first-ever bilateral military exercises, the head of the Main Department for international cooperation of the Russian Defense Ministry, Colonel-General Anatoly Mazurkevich said Wednesday.

Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Land Forces, Colonel-General Vladimir Moltenskoi, in his turn, told RIA Novosti that a group of Chinese specialists which is taking part in developing a plan of exercises will arrive in Moscow in March. Russian specialists will head for China in April.

"We will continue work to approve the concept of exercises," said General Moltenskoi.

The plan of Russian-Chinese military exercises has already been coordinated. They are supposed to be held on the Liaodong Peninsula (Yellow Sea) in August-September 2005, but may be postponed until October.

The planned number of participants is 200 people (100 from each side). During the maneuvers, an anti-terrorist scenario will be practiced: location and elimination of terrorists and drug dealers.

Besides land forces units, the exercises will involve strategic aviation aircraft and the forces of Russia's Pacific Fleet.

General Moltenskoi also said that a fundamentally new type of nuclear missile systems currently developed by Russia would be adopted by the Russian army during the two-three years to come.

"If other countries increase their defense potential, why can't we do the same? We will also increase it using state-of-the-art developments," he added.

General Moltenskoi said that the transfer from 2005 by the Defense Ministry to the scheme of the only client of the state defense order would contribute to faster modernization of Russian Armed Forces armament and the appearance of new hardware.

Last Sunday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a Munich press conference that the new type of nuclear missile systems might be adopted by Russia's Armed Forces soon.

"I hope we will soon adopt them," said Mr. Ivanov.