China and Russia, Joint At Sea
| AUTHOR | Anushka Saxena |
| DATE | July 13, 2026 |
| CATEGORIES | China Russia Defence Geostrategy |
On July 11, 2026, China and Russia conducted their joint naval exercise, ‘Joint Sea - 2026’. The report published by the PLA Daily discussed how the exercise featured drills on submarine search and rescue, maritime strike, and air and missile defence, along with oft-repeated language around enhancing “mutual trust and shared responsibility for peace.” Nonetheless, three details in this year’s exercise are noteworthy.
The first is that Beijing reports the exercises were conducted “without a predetermined script,” with grassroots commanders making real-time decisions on formation manoeuvring and firepower allocation based on the “tactical situation” and hydrographic conditions. Execution aside, the idea itself is interesting and ambitious, because unscripted exercises are usually attempts to foster genuine interoperability.
The second is the composition of the maritime strike part of the exercise. The PLA Daily story reports that the Russian missile cruiser Varyag was the first to detect a simulated surface target and that it cued the engagement, which was subsequently prosecuted by Chinese and Russian main guns. The scene description goes further:
Moments later, the Kaifeng [a Type 051 Destroyer] handled the air threat while Russian ships provided supplementary fire.
This is a combined-arms task organisation across two navies with different doctrines, data links and crew, which is difficult to execute, and the description here is more about tasks conducted in each other’s presence, than genuine interoperability. Nonetheless, like a joint arms training and preparedness endeavour, the effort to interlink language on commands and simultaneous detection and fire capabilities is the starting point.
The third bit is the vitality of submarines and submarine rescue vessels, which the article itself flags as a shift from surface-only cooperation toward “integrated surface-and-undersea combat operations.” Because submarines are some of the most sensitive platforms any navy owns, drilling with them alongside a foreign fleet is a trust signal of a different order.
About Joint Sea
When Joint Sea began in 2012, it was a means to build confidence between Moscow and Beijing in the Yellow Sea, which is shared by both countries. In its 14-year journey, the exercise has expanded in geographic scope – as evidenced by its Mediterranean and Baltic iterations – and has since included strategic bomber patrols in the 2010s. The 2024 exercise marked the first addition of an anti-submarine component to the drills. Subsequently, it integrated Iran into a trilateral format in the Gulf of Oman in 2019 and, by the 2020s, had become an annual fixture, with regular joint patrols by both parties in the Sea of Japan and the Western Pacific.
If strategic circumstances change, it is possible that the doctrinal and TTP-sharing that has occurred through the Joint Sea/ Maritime Interaction exercises can be scaled up quickly. Not to mention, the exercise already creates a new normal of joint patrolling and intimidation led by partners who still seem to share mutual regional security ambitions and trust, despite their other differences and overreach.