Russia and China this week are set to finish large-scale sea drills with China in the Sea of Japan off the Russian coast, that country’s state media reported. Twenty-two vessels, 20 aircraft, 40 armored vehicles, and 500 marines from both China and Russia are taking part in the “Joint Sea 2015 II” drills off the coast of Vladivostok, TASS reported. The maneuvers, which include work on anti-sabotage, anti-submarine, anti-vessel, and anti-aircraft defense, along with gunnery drills with surface, underwater, and aerial targets, are expected to finish on Aug. 27, a Russian military spokesman said. The drills are taking part in neutral waters and will conclude with an amphibious and airborne landing on Russian soil for the first time, according to RT.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…