China's Beidou positioning system used in V-Day parade training

BEIJING - Chinese troops will not put a step out of time thanks to Beidou's highly accurate navigational systems, which have been used during training for the World War II military parade.

Wang Shun, who is deputy chief of staff of Beijing Military Area Command and parade command deputy director, told a press conference on Friday that all parade units used Beidou's automatic timing system during formation training.

Wang said that Beidou's simulation system had improved formation precision and timing. "We have strict standards for foot, armament and air formations," Wang said.

Members of the foot formations must ensure the "brim of their hats, as well as their hands, weapons and feet are all in a line," he said, adding that by using the timing system, more emphasis was put on leg training, arm swinging and standing to attention.

"Foot formation soldiers can stand at attention for two hours, and are able to perform a standard formation for a 200 meter parade-step march or a 1,000m quick march," Wang said.

He said parade troops retain their high spirits and confidence, despite the heat of the sun or intense training schedule.

While the armament formation must move simultaneously, the air teams must also remain steady while in formation, he said, adding that reacting to a change in weather conditions was important to pilot training.