Artillery troops of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) kicked off a live-fire drill in a training base in northwest China today.
The drill which began at the Lanzhou Military Area Command will last more than two months, will see artillery brigades from all seven PLA military area commands confront armoured forces, infantry and air forces, a military statement said.
While previous war games have mostly targeted a single combat mode, this drill will test a wide spectrum of combat abilities, including firepower support, assault and defence, retreat and pursuit, airborne and anti-airborne actions.
"The drill targets multiple issues that our artillery could encounter in a future war," Tang Ning, a senior PLA official in charge of military training told state-run Xinhua news agency.
Tang noted that the drill will aim to rectify "bad habits" such as a tendency to attack from a single base, excessive fire at easy targets and commanders getting too close to targets.
The drill is also an opportunity to test and improve the abilities of drones and radar as well as sonar systems to lock on targets and assist artillery assaults, the official added.
