Overview

• The ongoing Joint Sea-2025 exercises feature artillery firing, anti-submarine warfare drills, air defence and missile operations, and submarine rescue training.
• Four Chinese vessels, including guided-missile destroyers Shaoxing and Urumqi, are operating alongside Russian anti-submarine ships and diesel-electric submarines.
• Scheduled to run through August 5, the drills will be followed by coordinated naval patrols in relevant Pacific waters under an annual bilateral cooperation plan.
• President Donald Trump has ordered two US nuclear submarines to redeploy to the region in direct response to the exercises.
• Japan’s Ministry of Defence has warned that expanding Sino-Russian naval cooperation poses serious security challenges in East Asia.