China showcased its newest military hardware manufactured by its own defense industries last Friday in a multinational live-firing military exercise at Zhurihe, north of the country.

China state media said, sophisticated attack helicopters and main battle tanks were featured and  put to the test at the "Peace Mission 2014" drill participated in, by 7,000 personnel from China, Kyrgystan, Tajikstan, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

Like Us on Facebook

The choppers and the battle tanks  performed beyond expectations, showing the growing sophistication of China's military hardware manufacturing companies.

Reports said the military exercises at Zhurihe culminated the week-long joint training under the regional grouping known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Zhurihe is China's largest and modern training base in Inner Mongolia.

The Communist Party's People's Daily said the latest range of the Type 99 main battle tanks and the Z-10 and Z-19 attack helicopters were taking part, for the first time, in the military exercises wherein live ammunitions were used.

China's air force said a new type of armed drone was deployed in the exercises and that it had successfully carried out a missile attack on a command vehicle.

Air Force Spokesman Shen Jinke said the drone is a very important and reliable tool in fighting terrorists since it can identify, monitor, and destroy objects in real time.

China had been highly dependent on Russia for its sophisticated weapon system before its own  military hardware companies started to upgrade and improve their military materiel.

Reports said China has gone a long way in producing its own weaponry, mostly manufacturing variations of foreign models. Experts said China has made huge advances in developing its own weapon system and has cut a big percentage in its foreign purchases.

Reports said the Z-10 and Z-19 attack helicopters are modeled after the French Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin. The Type 99 version was based on the former Soviet T-72.

Most of China's drones strike a resemblance to the Global hawk, predator, and Reaper models used by the U.S. Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Tagsweapons, attack helicopters, Military exercises