Beijing: Chinese naval task force,
deployed in Gulf of Aden to fight Somali pirates, has staged a
special anti-piracy exercise to improve rapid-reaction ability
of its ship-based helicopters.
The 5th Chinese naval escort task force staged an
anti-piracy exercise in which helicopters were trained to get
out of hangers and take off in four minutes, the Chinese
official military newspaper PLA Daily reported.
The Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast
have a spacious sea area. The pirates appear in small groups
and attack merchant ships in a fast way.
To shorten the time for the helicopters to make
preparation for the take off, the task force improved and
optimised the operational steps, resulting in shortening the
time for combat deployment grade transition of the
helicopters, it said.
To improve rapid-reaction ability of the ship-based
helicopters in air escort, the command post of the task force
also organised a series trainings including rapid combat grade
transition, flight at daybreak and night and slide landing.
We arrange a multiple of subjects including
low-altitude flight, ultra low-altitude flight, hovering,
sliding and landing on the ship in a flight sortie to improve
the flight skill of the pilots under complicated weather
conditions, Cui Ao, captain of the helicopter crew of the
`Guangzhou` warship said.
The rapid-reaction ability of the helicopter in escort
process was greatly improved through organising the
close-to-actual-situation trainings and exercises, he said.
China along with other countries including India has
deployed its naval task force off the Somali coast to counter
attacks raids on Chinese as well as international merchant
vessels by pirates.
PTI
