On this day, 29 years ago, on March 20, 1996 (February 2, 1996, the People's Liberation Army of China conducted live-fire naval exercises in the East China Sea and South China Sea. Schematic diagram of sea and air live-fire exercise areas On March 9, 1996, Xinhua Agency was authorized to announce: From March 12 to March 20, 1996, the People's Liberation Army of China will conduct live ammunition exercises in the sea and airspace within the four-point line of 23 degrees 57 minutes north latitude, 118 degrees 06 minutes east longitude, 23 degrees 25 minutes north latitude, 118 degrees 50 minutes east longitude, 22 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, 117 degrees 30 minutes east longitude, and 23 degrees 01 minutes north latitude and 116 degrees 46 minutes east longitude. For safety reasons, the China government requires the governments and regional authorities of relevant countries to notify ships and aircraft in their own countries and the region not to enter the above-mentioned sea areas and airspace during this period. From March 12 to 20, the Air Force and Navy of the People's Liberation Army of China held majestic joint combat real-fire exercises of various arms in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Advanced fighter jets, ships, missiles, and electronic warfare equipment worked closely together during the exercise, demonstrating strong air and sea strike power. The successful exercise showed that by implementing the military strategic guidelines for the new era, deepening reforms and strict and arduous training, the modernization level and defensive combat capabilities of these two important services have been improved under modern conditions, especially high-tech conditions. Somewhere in southern Fujian: The sky above a certain bay with changing conditions has become a big stage to demonstrate the combat effectiveness of the air force. On this day, despite the complex meteorological conditions, it did not hinder a powerful assault group composed of fighter jets, assault aircraft, bombers, electronic jammers, reconnaissance aircraft, etc. from launching wonderful air strike exercises. According to Air Force Commander Yu Zhenwu and Political Commissar Ding Wenchang, more than 10 arms participated in the exercise. The number of arms and aircraft types participating in the exercise, the number of batches and sorties of aircraft dispatched, the number of live ammunition fired, the difficulty of the exercise, and the complexity of the coordination are all rare in recent years. During the exercise, fighter jets carried out fierce attacks on "enemy aircraft" to seize air supremacy; there was also a joint assault fleet that used various means to continuously assault key targets on the "enemy" at low altitudes and ultra-low altitudes; there were also aviation forces, ground-to-air missiles, and anti-aircraft artillery units coordinated in the air to resist the "enemy" air assault. There are both "hard destruction" of air-ground firearms and "soft destruction" of electronic warfare, demonstrating the comprehensive combat capabilities of our People's Air Force. The Air Force Aviation Force uses advanced fighter jets as its fist to form a joint aircraft group, which greatly improves the Air Force's air combat capabilities and ground-to-sea attack capabilities. The ground-to-air missile force has also developed from a single type of equipment in the past to an air defense system with multiple matching models at high, medium and low altitudes, long, medium and short ranges. In particular, a batch of new equipment showed great power during this exercise. The aerial interception of advanced fighter jets is like lightning, the low-altitude assault of assault aircraft is like thunder crossing the sea, the launch of new surface-to-air missiles is like a sharp sword slicing through the air, and bombers drop bombs from the clouds like Mount Tai. The continuous attacks were like terrifying waves, waves connected and came in from the sky, and were unstoppable. The entire exercise was close to actual combat, carefully organized, closely coordinated, and implemented continuously, demonstrating the good quality and command capabilities of commanders at all levels of the Air Force. In a certain sea area in the South China Sea: Aircraft fleet in the air breaks through fog and penetrates clouds, warships on the surface are tightly lined with iron formations, and underwater "long whales" cruise around. Navy Commander Zhang Lianzhong and Political Commissar Yang Huaiqing said that the sea and air assault force group composed of dozens of warships from multiple types such as nuclear submarines, new conventional submarines, new missile destroyers, missile frigates, advanced electronic reconnaissance ships, and multiple types of naval aviation participated in this live-fire exercise of various arms at sea under modern technology, especially high-tech conditions. Ships and aircraft cooperated to seize air supremacy at sea. Air-to-air missiles were like thunder in the air, and ship-to-air missiles were like a thousand feet long tassel, destroying the "enemy" aircraft into ashes; Joint anti-submarine, ship-based helicopter formation searches, accurate positioning, and joint attacks with surface ships. Torpedoes and rocket deep bombs are fired in unison, burying the "ghosts" hidden under the water to the belly of the fish; electronic warfare throughout the entire process, using electronic offensive, electronic defense, and electronic support operations coordinated by electronic equipment deployed in the air, sea and shore-based, demonstrate our military's ability to win in this "special battlefield"; The multi-ship type and multi-directional missile attack, the missile salvo from multiple destroyers and frigates with an extraordinary lineup, and the contract of various arms to attack the "enemy" combat ship formation were the most exciting scenes of this exercise. Although the exercise weather was complex, the naval officers and soldiers successfully completed this difficult live-fire exercise with superb technology and good command. In recent years, the vast number of commanders and fighters in the Navy and Air Force have followed Comrade Deng Xiaoping's thoughts on army building in the new era as the guide and in accordance with Chairman Jiang Zemin's general requirements of "politically qualified, militarily excellent, fine work style, strict discipline, and strong support" to thoroughly implement the CMC's military strategy for the new era. The policy is to comprehensively build the army, strengthen research on advanced military theories and tactics, and actively organize training in difficult subjects under complex conditions. At present, the number of qualified captains in the naval force has increased significantly, and all main combat ships such as nuclear submarines, conventional-powered submarines, destroyers, and frigates have completed cross-sea training courses and have strong cooperative combat capabilities. The Class A Air Force Aviation Regiment and pilots with four meteorological levels have reached record levels. This is an important reason for the success of live-fire sea and air exercises.