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China-Russia-Iran Maritime Drills Send Signal to West
Maritime Security Belt 2024 may have been planned long in advance of the Israel-Hamas war, but the message to regional players and the West is highly significant, analysts say
www.voanews.com
(Note what I highlighted in Bold)
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL —
China conducted joint military drills this week with Russia and Iran in the Gulf of Oman, a critical water conduit near the entry to the Persian Gulf.
The five-day exercise, "Maritime Security Belt 2024," involved both naval and aviation forces, with the primary objective of enhancing the security of maritime economic activities, according to Russia's Ministry of Defense.
The drills may have been planned long in advance of the current Israel-Hamas war, but their implication and message to regional players and the West are highly significant, analysts say.
More than 20 ships, combat boats, support carriers and navy helicopters participated in the exercise.
Iran's semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) debuted new warships in the exercise, including the Shahid Soleimani corvette.
"That's a game changer," Wendell Minnick, an arms specialist and "China in Arms" podcaster, told VOA.
"Pay close attention to anti-ship missiles on ships," Minnick said. "The U.S. Navy has a real problem with these types of missiles."
The IRGC-operated Shahid Soleimani corvette is equipped with long- and short-range anti-ship cruise missiles. It's the first Iranian warship outfitted with advanced VLS, or Vertical Launching Systems, for firing surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.
"This gives the U.S. Navy a nightmare scenario of being saturated by multidirectional vectors of attack that they cannot possibly defeat en masse," Minnick said. "Like being attacked by bees or ants. Eventually they will get you."
(Gog, Magog, Persia: Ezekiel 38 ?)
