A Chinese navy helicopter prepares to land on Russia's Varyag missile cruiser during a drill on East China Sea, May 23, 2014. The Chinese and Russian navies staged exercises, including joint escort drill, joint aircraft identification exercise and air defense and maritime assault drills, on the East China Sea on Friday to simulate anti-piracy operations. (Xinhua/Zha Chunming)

SHANGHAI, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese and Russian navies staged exercises on the East China Sea on Friday to simulate anti-piracy operations.

In the "joint escort" drill, naval vessels successfully drove away two "pirate boats" under the command of Russia's Varyag missile cruiser. The navies also simulated a rescue mission by sending out special forces and taking out "pirates" on a "hijacked ship."

In a joint aircraft identification exercise, vessels searched for and reported "unidentified aerial targets" while the command coordinated flying J-10 and Su-30 fighters to identify the targets.

The navies also jointly conducted air defense and maritime assault drills. They also practised intercepting missiles.

Wang Chao, head of a coordination team from the Chinese Navy, described Friday as "the busiest day" since the week-long series of drills began on Tuesday, with the exercises lasting from about 9 a.m. till 3:30 p.m.

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