A total of 12,000 soldiers and officers from China's air defense force are scheduled to conduct a five-day military exercise in two provinces from Tuesday, a source from the the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Jinan Military Command said Monday.

The military exercise, code-named "Vanguard-2010", will be carried out in the provinces of Henan and Shandong and is an important part of annual joint military exercises between different military commands, according to the source.

An unidentified number of scouting planes, combat aircraft and helicopters will join the exercise, according to the source.