Army of the People's Republic of China

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Land Forces flag

The army of the People's Liberation Army (中国人民解放军陆军, Engl. : People's Liberation Army Ground Force ) are the land forces of the People's Republic of China .

Organization of the Army

The current strength of the Chinese army is unknown. According to British knowledge, it consists of 800,000 professional soldiers and the same number of conscripts . The army therefore makes up 76 percent of the total number of Chinese soldiers. The US Department of Defense estimates 1.25 million soldiers (as of 2008).

The land forces, like the other branches of armed forces, have been modernized and downsized for several years. At the center of these efforts are three airborne divisions, two amphibious infantry divisions, two marine infantry brigades and seven special operations groups. In addition, outside the army, the rocket artillery also has a highly mobile unit with a reconnaissance unit of regimental strength. The structure of the army is currently being converted from a division to a brigade structure in order to increase flexibility and efficiency. Overall, the focus is shifting from tank and artillery units with heavy weapons to airborne, naval and conventional infantry units. Since 1998 the VBA has also had a rapid reaction force of an estimated 260,000 men (two infantry divisions in each military region), which is directly under the command of the ZMK.

The People's Republic is regionally divided into seven military districts, each with a headquarters . The geographical division of the Army and Air Force is congruent if the headquarters are also separate.

According to the US Department of Defense, in 2007 the Army of the People's Liberation Army had:

  • 18 army groups with 30,000 to 65,000 soldiers each in seven military regions.
    • An army group usually includes:
Deployment of the Chinese army groups
  • 19 infantry divisions , four of them as armored infantry divisions, and 24 infantry brigades, five of them as mechanized brigades.
    • Infantry divisions make up the bulk of the Chinese armed forces. 11,000 to 13,000 soldiers, including 1,400 officers, are subordinate to an infantry division.
    • A typical infantry division includes:
      • 3 infantry regiments, divided into 9 infantry battalions and support units,
      • 1 tank regiment with 3 tank battalions,
      • 1 artillery regiment (mostly with a battalion of 152 mm howitzers (18 pieces)), a 130 mm gun battalion (18 pieces), a 122 mm multiple rocket launcher battalion (18 pieces), an anti-tank battalion with 100 mm anti-tank guns and anti-tank missiles ,
      • 1 anti-aircraft battalion with anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft cannons,
      • 1 telecommunications battalion,
      • 1 engineer battalion or engineer company,
      • an NBC defense company,
      • a guard company for the security of the division commanders and division command posts
      • as well as supply units for logistics and medical services.
  • 9 tank divisions and 8 tank brigades with 9,000 to 10,000 soldiers.
    • A typical armored division includes:
      • 3 tank regiments or regiments of armored vehicles, divided into three tank battalions, one tank grenadier battalion, one artillery battalion, one air defense battalion and other support troops.
      • 1 tank regiment, divided into one tank battalion and three tank battalions, three infantry battalions, one artillery battalion, one air defense battalion including anti-aircraft missiles and other support troops (logistics, medical service)
      • 1 artillery regiment, for equipment see above under infantry division.
        • An artillery regiment comprises 5,800 soldiers and is directly subordinate to an army division,
      • 1 air defense regiment, divided into 3 to 4 air defense battalions,
      • 1 anti-tank battalion with anti-tank missiles,
      • 1 telecommunications battalion,
      • 1 engineer battalion,
      • 1 reconnaissance battalion,
      • 1 NBC defense battalion,
      • 1 repair battalion,
      • 1 transport battalion,
      • 1 guard company,
  • 2 artillery divisions, divided into 15 artillery regiments and 17 artillery brigades
    • The division reports directly to the army group. Equipment includes 152 mm howitzers (over 50 pieces), 130 mm gun battalion (over 50 pieces), 122 mm multiple rocket launcher battalion (over 50 pieces), several 100 mm anti-tank guns and anti-tank missiles,
  • 3 airborne divisions
  • 2 amphibious divisions and 3 amphibious brigades
  • Reserve units with a special focus on air defense (around a third), a total of an estimated 40 divisions, 25 brigades and various regiments.

There are also special units in each military region. Some army groups or armored infantry divisions are also better equipped and serve as crisis reaction forces in Beijing, Shenyang, Jinan and Chengdu, among others. These units include the army's rapid reaction forces: the 15th Airborne Division and the 38th and 39th Armies in the Beijing and Shenjang military regions.

Equipment of the army

Chinese Type 98 Main Battle Tank

The army has around 6,700 battle tanks , 1,000 light or reconnaissance tanks, 3,000 armored vehicles (mainly troop transports and armored personnel carriers), 2,400 rocket launchers , 9,000 field howitzers and 2,200 self-propelled howitzers . Overall, associations in the coastal region are the main focus of army modernization compared to Taiwan . These units are mainly equipped with amphibious weapons and transport systems. Around a quarter of the major formations in the Chinese Army primarily train amphibious deployment scenarios.

The technical modernization primarily affects the acquisition of amphibious vehicles, light armored vehicles, anti-aircraft and tactical missiles as well as aircraft for increased air mobility (especially Il-76 ) as well as the expansion of special forces and modern command equipment ( C3I - Command, Control, Communications & Intelligence). The main battle tank units are being modernized, and they are exchanging their old vehicles (mostly replicas of Russian types) for new, local models in significantly smaller numbers. The tube artillery is modernized only to a very small extent and its strength is significantly reduced. The number of large-caliber artillery missile systems is growing, in contrast to most other armies worldwide. However, the technical upgrade of the ground troops is going on much more slowly than that of the air force and navy.

tank

By far most of the Chinese main battle tanks still belong to the outdated Type 59 . In 2006 the first modern Type 99 tanks were issued to the troops. A total of around 200 of this model and its predecessor Type 98 are currently in use. The mechanized infantry is mainly equipped with Type 86 armored personnel carriers. It is the BMP-1 with an improved turret that carries a 30-millimeter automatic cannon.

Around the year 2000, a new family of four-axle wheeled armored vehicles from in-house production appears to have been put into service, which carry a variety of weapon systems. At the beginning of 2007, the weapons manufacturer Norinco presented a four-wheeled armored car under the designation VN3 , which can be equipped with various weapon towers. Since 2005 there have been reports of amphibious chain armor in various designs under the name “AAAV”. It is supposed to be transported on the large landing ships of the type 071, which have been in use since 2006.

artillery

Under the designation SH-1, a truck-mounted howitzer has been in use since 2004, which is supposed to achieve a combat range of up to 50 kilometers. The smaller version SH-2 can be air-laid and shoots up to 27 kilometers.

Air support

In 2004 mainly Russian Mi-17 helicopters were bought for the army. In May 2008 a joint venture with the Russian helicopter manufacturer Mil became known. According to this, up to 80 helicopters of different versions of the Mi-17 are to be manufactured in China each year, some of them for export. A separate combat helicopter has existed since the late 1980s , the type WZ-9 , a version based on the French model AS 365N Dauphin-II and of which around 50 to 80 units should be operational. An in-house development with the designation WZ-10 is currently completing its first flight tests and will probably be commissioned in 2009 at the earliest. In July 2008, General Ma Xiangsheng, the commander of the Army Aviation Division established in 1987, stated that the Chinese army had nearly 500 helicopters, which were set up in ten units.

The sea transport, air transport and air landing capabilities of Chinese ground forces have remained almost unchanged since 2000. The US Department of Defense assumes that the People's Liberation Army can ship a complete division at the same time and deploy up to 5000 paratroopers by plane, significantly less if heavy weapons are transported by air at the same time.

Further modernization efforts

In addition, a new type of logistics unit was set up and attempts were made to move logistical tasks to the civilian sector. In the long term, this approach should increase the number of combat units in the VBA. According to official information, the militia should also benefit from the modernization of the armed forces, but in the long run their level of equipment is likely to lag far behind that of a modern army. However, units have been created in the militia that specialize in modern communication technology and are recruited from residents of the country's urban centers. These experts should bring their civilly acquired knowledge of computer technology to the VBA.

Special forces

The army maintains a special forces command in each military region . In addition, there is one such unit in the air force and one in the navy, as well as a special police unit.

The Army Special Forces emerged as a reaction to the border disputes with Vietnam from 1979. First, as in previous conflicts, temporary special units were set up. In 1988 the first permanent troop of this type, still referred to as a reconnaissance unit, was established. By 1990, the reconnaissance units, which were directly assigned to the commandos of the military regions, were converted into special units with better equipment and appropriate training. At the end of the 1990s, these units were significantly enlarged and from this point in time no longer officially designated as reconnaissance, but as special units.

Today, each of the seven units presumably has regimental strength with 1000 to 2000 members, each divided into three battalions. Since 2003 some of these units are said to have been removed from the military regions and assigned to army groups.

The Chinese special forces are geared towards combat tasks. Psychological warfare, the leadership and training of allied fighters, to which US special forces attach great importance, are not part of their range of tasks. Chinese special forces have also been trained in the fight against terrorism since around 2002. The special unit in the Chengdu district is supposed to be involved in testing digital equipment, comparable to the American Future Force Warrior system.

Web links