Pakistan-China joint air exercise ‘Shaheen-X’ begins

ISLAMABAD  –  The Sino-Pak joint annual air exercise Shaheen-X has com­menced in the Jiuquan and Yinchuan cities of Northwest China. The PAF’s lead fight­er aircraft J-10 C and JF-17 are participating in the exer­cise along with air and ground crew. According to a press re­lease received here on Tues­day, People’s Liberation Army Air Force and Pakistan Air Force have been conducting Shaheen joint exercises since 2011 which are being host­ed by both countries on an al­ternate basis. The Shaheen exercise aims to enhance the aerial combat practices, oper­ational readiness, promoting interoperability and creating synergy amongst the partici­pating strategic and time-test­ed allies in the region. More­over, incorporation of features like hybrid warfare, cyber­space and computing in this air exercise would augment Pakistan Air Force’s effec­tiveness in the dynamic and evolving landscape of modern warfare. The exercise would leverage the iron-brother countries to develop a com­prehensive defence strategy to further consolidate their capacity of safeguarding their aerial boundaries in the face of shared challenges.