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<\/p>\nChinese and Russian submarines have conducted a joint patrol, in the latest step in a growing Sino-Russian partnership.<\/p>\n
While the exercise only involved two subs, the warning was clear: America should contemplate the prospect of confronting a China-Russia alliance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say this is simply an effort at deterrence,\u201d Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Defense Priorities think tank in Washington, told Defense News. \u201cWhile it is hard to conceive of a scenario where they would embark on a war with the West simultaneously, they may benefit from some impression that could be the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Beijing and Moscow are portraying this as a milestone in military cooperation. A Chinese military expert told China\u2019s Global Times<\/a> newspaper that \u201cthe first joint submarine patrol indicated a high level of strategic mutual trust between China and Russia. Having submarines keeping in contact requires not only higher technical expertise but also more in-depth exchanges.\u201d<\/p>\n The patrol comprised the Russian submarine Volkhov and a Chinese sub, accompanied by two Russian surface ships: the corvette Gromkiy and a submarine rescue vessel. They sailed in August through the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, following a joint China-Russia anti-submarine exercise<\/a> earlier that month, which included surface ships and aircraft. The Volkhov traveled 2,000 miles before terminating its voyage at Vladivostok, according to Russian newspaper Izvestia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Russian and Chinese boats were both Kilo-class, a 1970s Soviet diesel electric design known for being acoustically quiet. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a logical choice, since China imported this type of submarine from Russia, so they have very similar capabilities and could make easy exercise partners,\u201d said Goldstein, whose new book<\/a> on the China-Russia naval alliance will be published in January.<\/p>\n What was more significant was what China and Russia chose not to do for the exercise: commit their nuclear-powered submarines, perhaps out of reluctance to reveal the capabilities of advanced warships to an ally that could be a future rival. <\/p>\n \u201cSo far, China and Russia are not cooperating \u2014 at least openly \u2014 in wielding nuclear-powered submarines,\u201d Goldstein said.<\/p>\n Indeed, the current bromance between China and Russia is practical rather than affectionate. Though the two nations were allies in the 1950s, Chinese and Russian troops battled each other in border clashes<\/a> in 1969, Soviet leaders once pondered a nuclear strike against China<\/a> and the Kremlin knows that China considers parts of the Russian Far East to be stolen Chinese territory<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whatever the reason, the ostensible allies only paired up aging and more or less identical warships. <\/p>\n \u201cNeither side gave up anything the other participant didn\u2019t already know by using Kilos,\u201d Richard Moss, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College\u2019s Russian Maritime Studies Institute, told Defense News.<\/p>\n While the Chinese and Russian armed forces share a common lineage in Soviet military thought and equipment, that doesn\u2019t guarantee integration during joint exercises. <\/p>\n \u201cThe level of interaction does not remotely approximate what the U.S. and its allies, such as NATO countries, do on a regular basis,\u201d noted Moss, who said he was speaking in a personal capacity.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, the sub patrol is only the latest in a series of highly public displays of Sino-Russian military cooperation. In 2019, the two nations began sporadic bomber patrols, including a 2024 flight by four Chinese and Russian bombers that flew near Alaska<\/a>. 2021 saw the onset of annual joint patrols by surface ships. There have also been joint land exercises such as the Zapad\/Interaction wargame<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this [the sub patrol] is quite consistent with the overall pattern,\u201d said Goldstein. \u201cIt is repetitive, consistent, quite small in scale, and often features a new dimension, whether technological or geographical.\u201d<\/p>\n