The Russian navy held an anti-submarine drill in an unspecified area of the disputed South China Sea Monday.
The frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov simulated an attack on an enemy submarine, state media reported, citing the Russian Pacific Fleet.
The drill came at a tense time in the South China Sea, through which upwards of $5.3 trillion dollars is estimated to pass each year. Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the sea, leading to increasingly dramatic confrontations between Chinese maritime forces and those of U.S. Mutal Defense Treaty ally the Philippines.
The frigate's crew coordinated with a Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter to search for the phantom sub, which they "sank" with simulated torpedoes and depth charges, a spokesperson for the fleet told Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a Russian government daily newspaper.
The Marshal Shaposhnikov and several other warships, including the fleet's flagship, the missile cruiser Varyag, are in the midst of a long-distance voyage, according to the report.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian defense ministry and Chinese foreign ministry via written requests for comment.
Jan Kallberg, senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis think tank and fellow at the Army Cyber Institute at West Point, told Newsweek that Moscow likely intended the exercise in China's backyard as a demonstration for Beijing.
"Russia wants access to China's political leverage in the world community, production capacity, and naturally, their stock of missiles, artillery shells, and armor, so Russia presents itself as a long-term strategic geopolitical partner," he said.
The ongoing war with Ukraine has forced Russia to look elsewhere to refill its depleted munitions, including, allegedly, Kim Jong Un's North Korea.
Isolated since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has weathered the West's punishing sanctions in large part thanks to support from Beijing.
However, this support came at a cost. The Kremlin now finds itself the junior partner in that "no limits" relationship and increasingly reliant on the world's second-largest economy, with which it has a substantial trade imbalance. China also has leverage over Russia's planned Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline.
Although Russia's naval infantry has been "completely wiped out in Ukraine," Russia can still use its largely intact navy to show it can still bring something to the table in a Russian-Chinese alliance, Kallberg said.
"Russia has been in the forefront of submarine technology, and with it comes the ability to do anti-submarine warfare, which is the flip side of the same knowledge," he added.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
