China, UAE conduct joint air drills for peace

China and the United Arab Emirates held a joint air force exercise in the UAE this month aimed at "maintaining regional peace," Beijing's Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

The two countries conducted the "Falcon Shield" joint training in the UAE from Dec. 9 to Dec. 22, Defense Ministry spokesman Senior Col. Zhang Xiaogang told a news conference, according to a statement from the ministry.

So far, the Falcon Shield has been "held three times and has played an important role in promoting practical cooperation between the two sides and maintaining regional peace," Zhang said.

During the latest drills, the Chinese Air Force for the first time deployed its J-10 fighter jets, KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft, and YY-20A tanker aircraft to the Gulf nation for the training, the spokesman said.

"Participating troops from both sides carried out operations in mixed groups, focusing on such subjects as command simulations and air superiority combat," Zhang said.

He added that they also had "in-depth exchanges" on night combat with night-vision equipment, unmanned combat, and battlefield search and rescue.

The two nations previously held the annual Falcon Shield-2024 exercise in June-July 2024 in China's northwestern Xinjiang province. In 2023, the Falcon Shield-2023 joint training exercise was held in August in the same province.