chinese navy attack submarine arrived russia for joint exercise

Defence affairs analysis

As part of the bilateral Joint Sea 2025 exercise, an attack submarine of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of China arrived in Russia a few days ago to take part in combined naval operations with the Russian Navy.

The activities, which began last Friday, will continue until August 5, with the Sea of Japan, off the coast of the Vladivostok region, serving as the operational area.

The central objective of this new edition of Joint Sea 2025 is to strengthen military cooperation and interoperability between both naval forces, with a particular focus on air defense operations, anti-submarine warfare, maritime route protection, convoy escort, and combined command and control actions. The activities were organized into three operational phases.

As for the participating units, the Russian Navy deployed the Udaloy-class destroyer Admiral Tributs (564), the corvette RFS Gromkiy (335), the diesel-electric submarine RFS Volkhov (B-603) of the Kilo II class, and the rescue ship Igor Belousov. On the Chinese side, the PLAN deployed the Type 052D guided missile destroyers Shaoxing (134) and Urumqi (118), the Type 903 comprehensive replenishment ship Qiandaohu, the submarine rescue ship Xihu (841), fixed-wing aircraft, shipborne helicopters, and personnel from the Marine Corps.