Special Footage of Sino-Russian Joint Exercises: Rare Joint Appearance of Two Militaries' Submarines

From July 6 to 13 this year, China and Russia held the "Maritime Joint-2026" joint exercise in the maritime and airspace areas near Qingdao, Shandong. The two militaries dispatched a total of 8 surface vessels and 2 submarines to jointly complete live-fire drills in various subjects, including joint reconnaissance, air defense and missile defense, anti-surface strike, and joint submarine rescue. After the exercise, some personnel from both sides organized a joint maritime patrol in relevant areas of the Pacific, passing through the Miyako Strait, the Tsugaru Strait, and the Soya Strait, conducting patrols in the western Pacific, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Japan Sea. The joint maritime patrol between China and Russia successfully concluded on the morning of July 29 local time.

A particularly notable scene from this joint exercise is the rare simultaneous appearance of submarines from both China and Russia. Submarines are typically very secretive; does their simultaneous appearance indicate that mutual trust between the two militaries has reached a new height?

Military commentator Du Wenlong: Submarines are secret weapons underwater, and their general appearance and performance are highly classified. The fact that Chinese and Russian submarines were captured in the same photo during the exercise indicates a significant improvement in mutual trust between the two militaries. Through visual contact, one can clearly see the characteristics of the other, which is something that both unfamiliar parties are most wary of. The next step will be the exchange of personnel between the two sides, even delving into each other's positions for experience, which will become a focus. Without genuine mutual trust, it is impossible to showcase one's comprehensive combat capabilities and new weaponry that one is least willing to display.