Air/Land Forcible Entry Operations in SCO Peace Mission 2009

Very little people paid attention to the implications of the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) military exercises:

"A noted Japanese military correspondent for the Asahi Shimbun, Shunji Taoka, recently suggested that the recent joint Sino-Russian exercises of 2009 in China’s Jillin province may be intended to intimidate the DPRK. The five-day joint military exercise, dubbed “Peace Mission 2009,” took place from July 22 in the Russian Far East and the Shenyang Military Area Command in northeast China, and were intended 'to verify operation plans and capabilities to respond to unexpected incidents under the unstable environment of countries and regions. The exercise involved paratroops, tanks, self-propelled guns, armored personnel carriers, helicopter gunships, fighter planes, and jet transports, which led Taoka to conclude that the scope of the operations extended beyond an anti-terrorist measure, which are the SCO’s remit. Taoka further asserts that there may be a joint plan of action for “unexpected incidents” in North Korea and that these exercises verify that claim."

As Stephen Blank observes, the involvement of Russia suggests that this isn't a dress rehearsal for the usual Taiwanese intervention scenario. And the OPFOR "terrorists" that China and Russia were fighting had conventional equipment and sophisticated capabilities that no group of terrorists or guerrillas were likely to have or employ. The contingency plan being rehearsed in these Central Asia maneuvers is likely some form of forcible entry intervention into North Korea, perhaps as a joint operation.

Comments

[YT]

Do ya think they were plannin' this:

"The objective of Deep Operations was to attack the enemy simultaneously throughout the depth of his ground force to induce a catastrophic failure in his defensive system. Highly mobile formations would then exploit this failure by breaking into the deep rear of the enemy and destroying his ability to rebuild his defenses."

A useful synthesis can indeed be created from both older and newer concepts. Well, at least for "conventional war".

[A.E.]

I think this is more of a strategic than operational question--no one is really talking about the role that China and Russia would play in the event of NK collapse or a shooting war.

[K&N Cold Air Intake]

If they put intake son all the vehicles it would save a ton of money on fuel and add more speed for their safety

[HTTP Spy]

Interesting! Most analyses of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership focus either on Russian arms sales to China or on the joint military exercises conducted by Moscow and Beijing under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which limits the scope of the analytical framework to a consideration of Central Asian scenarios.