The Land Forces of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) are the most numerous branch of the Chinese armed forces. Their number now reaches 1,600 thousand people. In addition, there is an active reserve numbering more than 800 thousand people. According to these indicators, the PLA Ground Forces rank first in the world, significantly surpassing similar forces of the United States and the Russian Federation, not to mention other major military powers.
MANEUVERABLE AND TERRITORIAL FORCES
The ground forces of the PLA include maneuver (main) forces, numbering more than 800 thousand people, and local (territorial) forces, which also number about 800 thousand people.
The maneuverable forces are operatively subordinate to the General Staff of the PLA through the command of the military districts. Their purpose is to conduct hostilities in any area of the mainland of the national territory and beyond. Local troops are subordinate to the provincial commands. They must, together with the people's militia, solve mainly security and defensive tasks. One of the functions that are assigned to the local troops is to ensure the protection of important communications in peacetime, and in wartime they must protect these communications from the enemy invading deep into the national territory or from his sabotage groups.
Territorial troops are deployed in the most dangerous areas of possible invasion by enemy troops and rely on defensive positions equipped in advance in engineering terms. Several of these positions constitute a defensive area (coverage area). Local troops, in fact, are the legacy of the period when Chinese military-strategic concepts were built with the expectation of a large-scale invasion from the north and allowed the enemy to move into the interior of the PRC. They assumed the conduct of predominantly defensive combat operations of a positional nature. In addition, partisan formations were supposed to be created on their basis. Despite the fact that at present the dominant place in Chinese military theory is given to the concept of the so-called active defense, which provides for the conduct of both defensive and offensive actions in the interaction of different types of armed forces and combat arms, these outdated attitudes still have a certain impact on military-strategic thinking of the Chinese political and military leadership. In peacetime, the functions of local troops also include carrying out rescue operations in their area of responsibility during natural disasters and man-made disasters. In wartime, in addition to performing purely military functions, they are entrusted with the task of eliminating the consequences of the use by the enemy of weapons of mass destruction and other modern means of fire, leading both to numerous casualties among the military and civilian population, and to massive destruction of housing, infrastructure and industrial facilities. including potentially hazardous industries, nuclear and hydroelectric power plants.
Local troops are also tasked with monitoring border and coastal areas, as well as important military installations and military infrastructure, in conjunction with the People's Armed Police (PNP). Together with CWP, they can be involved in maintaining public order and security. In this matter, they complement each other to some extent, performing their specific functions.
Well-trained Chinese infantry is capable of operating effectively in all conditions. Photo by Reuters
ACTIONS ON AND BEYOND THE CONTINENT
According to Chinese documents, set out in open sources, the PLA Ground Forces are generally designed to conduct hostilities on the continent. In addition to their numbers, their fundamental difference from other branches of the PLA's armed forces is the variety of both weapons and military equipment (AME) and the methods of warfare. The combat capabilities of the Ground Forces should ensure their ability, independently or in cooperation with other types of armed forces as part of joint groupings, to conduct effective offensive operations in order to defeat the enemy and seize the territory it occupies, and to carry out effective fire impact throughout the depth of the formation of its troops. In defense, they must firmly hold the occupied areas (lines), inflicting maximum losses on the enemy troops, thereby preparing favorable conditions for conducting their own counteroffensive operation.
The rise of the PRC as a new superpower with its own spheres of influence and interests in various regions of the world is reflected in the expansion of the range of tasks facing its armed forces, including the Ground Forces. PLA formations began to participate in international operations under the auspices of the UN and other organizations designed to ensure peace, security and stability both globally and regionally, including in international humanitarian operations, in anti-piracy activities, as well as in the practical implementation of international agreements. The most recent example of such activity is the participation of Chinese and Russian warships in providing security for a ship that was exporting Syrian chemical weapons.
The PLA Ground Forces include infantry (infantry, motorized and mechanized forces), tank troops, missile troops and artillery, air defense troops, army aviation, as well as formations and units of combat and logistics support (communications, intelligence, electronic warfare, engineering, radiation, chemical and biological protection, services of material and technical, medical support, research organizations, military educational institutions, etc.). Organizationally, the Special Operations Forces (special forces) are included in the PLA Ground Forces.
The direct leadership of the PLA Ground Forces is entrusted to the commander, who is also the Deputy Minister of Defense of the PRC. The main control body through which the commander exercises such leadership is the headquarters, consisting of directorates and departments responsible for a certain direction of activity (operational, reconnaissance, organizational-mobilization, etc.) The field of activity of the headquarters also includes operational and combat training of troops, their combat use, the organization of command and control and communications, the definition of their combat and material and technical support, the conduct of mobilization measures.
Structurally, the PLA Ground Forces consist of 18 combined-arms armies, which in most Western and Chinese sources are referred to as army groups. The latter are distributed across seven military districts, which, in turn, are subdivided into 28 military districts. These groups differ in their structure and size, depending on their deployment, potential enemy and the tasks facing them, and have different categories of readiness. The size of a typical army group ranges from 30 to 50 thousand people. According to this indicator, to some extent, it corresponds to the NATO field army, nevertheless yielding to a similar unification of the United States. In a typical version, the army group of the PLA Ground Forces includes up to three mechanized (motorized, rifle) divisions (brigades), one artillery brigade, an air defense brigade, a reconnaissance battalion, one regiment of communications, engineering support, radiation, chemical, biological protection, parts of logistic support and electronic warfare.
The mechanized division of the PLA in its standard staff structure has a personnel strength of up to 10 thousand people. It includes three mechanized regiments of three battalions on armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles and one tank regiment.
The tank division consists of three tank regiments and one mechanized one. The structure of both mechanized and tank divisions includes an artillery regiment, an air defense regiment (battalion), a communications battalion, an engineer battalion, a radiation, chemical, biological protection company (RCBZ), logistical and medical support units.
The PLA mechanized brigade consists of four mechanized battalions, each of which is equipped with 40 armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (BMPs), and a tank battalion armed with 41 main battle tanks (MBT), including one commander.
The tank brigade includes four three-company tank battalions (124 MBT) and one mechanized battalion (40 armored personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles).
The composition of both the mechanized and the tank brigade includes an artillery battalion with three batteries (18 self-propelled howitzers and 6 guns in each), an air defense battalion, an engineering company, communications and reconnaissance companies, RChBZ units, technical and medical support.
The artillery brigade has four battalions (three batteries, 48 towed guns in each) and a battalion of self-propelled artillery units (ACS), which is armed with 18 self-propelled guns.
PRIORITY - MOBILITY AND FLEXIBILITY
At present, the active reorganization of the PLA Ground Forces continues in order to ensure their greater mobility, flexibility of control during the conduct of hostilities as part of interspecific groupings of troops. One of the directions of reorganization is the transition to the so-called modular structure, the basis of which is the team. In the opinion of the PLA leadership, it is the brigade structure that makes it possible to create inter-service groupings of troops of various configurations in accordance with specific combat missions. Chinese military experts, based on an analysis of the experience of the United States and other NATO countries, came to the conclusion that brigade-level combat formations have an optimal structure and the necessary capabilities for strategic deployment and mobility. In addition, Chinese military experts believe that brigade-level formations have a sufficient number of weapons of all types, ensuring the possibility of successfully conducting the entire spectrum of hostilities in military conflicts of varying intensity. The brigade structure makes it possible to vary the set of forces and means not only depending on the type of combat operations, but also in accordance with the level of intensity of the military conflict, as well as climatic conditions and terrain. It is believed that for actions in low-intensity conflicts (anti-guerrilla actions), it is optimal to use light brigade formations, adapted to conduct hostilities in the jungle or in mountainous and wooded areas. In conflicts of medium and high intensity, it is advisable to use heavy-type brigades, either offensive or defensive.
When deciding on the transition to the formation of interspecific groupings on a modular basis on the basis of a brigade, particular importance was attached to increasing the mobility and controllability of troops. At the same time, mobility is understood not only as the ability to quickly change positions on the battlefield and to maneuver forces and means in order to change the composition of groups in one theater of military operations (theater of operations), but also as the ability to conduct large inter-theater transfers over long distances.
Simultaneously with an increase in the level of mobility of troops, the PLA leadership sets the task of significantly increasing the number of formations in the Land Forces with increased readiness for combat use and greater combat effectiveness. This, according to the plans of Chinese military specialists, will significantly increase the effectiveness of the actions of the Ground Forces in the course of operations of interspecific groupings.
To date, the PLA Ground Forces have created powerful highly mobile forces designed to conduct effective combat operations in any part of the national territory and beyond, primarily in the zones along the perimeter of the PRC's borders. In an emergency, they can be deployed in a short time to any strategic direction in order to create groupings of troops sufficient for the effective solution of specific tasks. In the context of the requirements for the creation of a modular system for the formation of inter-service groupings of troops in army groups, the number of divisions is reduced and the number of brigades increases accordingly. At the same time, in certain areas where terrain conditions are favorable for the effective employment of divisions and where powerful groupings of troops are concentrated at a potential enemy, it is considered expedient to retain part of the troops of the divisional structure.
Along with increasing the mobility of the Ground Forces, the PLA command pays serious attention to the development and implementation of modern means of combat control, communications, reconnaissance, surveillance (target designation) and computer technology, integrated into a single network complex with information space protection equipment. At the same time, new electronic warfare systems are being put into service. Particular importance is attached to the use of automated command and control systems (ACCS) of different levels. To date, the PRC has created and is using ACCS at both the strategic (national) and regional, operational and operational-tactical levels. The capabilities of the Quidian theater command and control system have been significantly expanded, providing information flows between the PLA General Staff, headquarters of the branches of the armed forces, combat arms and district commands.
The ACCS of the "military district - army group - division - brigade" level also demonstrates significant effectiveness. The troops are beginning to actively develop such a system of the "battalion - company - squad (crew, crew)" level, one of the elements of which are tablet computers, which have already begun to come at the disposal of subunit commanders. The transition from experimental to wider use of ACCS not only significantly increased the controllability of troops, reduced the time for commanders to make decisions for a battle, facilitated its planning, increased the level of interaction of formations of various types of troops in united groupings, increased the effectiveness of the use of weapons and military equipment, but also contributed to the development of innovative methods, forms and methods of armed struggle.
The political and military leadership of China is gradually moving away from priority funding of the PLA Ground Forces, noting that they are at least the first among equals in relation to other types of armed forces.
RAPID RE-EQUIPMENT
Over the past 10 years, the process of updating weapons and military equipment has been actively going on in the Ground Forces, and at a significantly higher pace than predicted by foreign military experts, including Russian ones. It is planned to bring the number of new and advanced systems to 70% of weapons and military equipment by 2017–2018. At the same time, the task is to significantly reduce their nomenclature, leaving in service multifunctional weapons and military equipment that have the potential for modernization.
As you know, in the recent past, the PLA Ground Forces had an unreasonably large number of weapons and military equipment in service. This problem has not been completely resolved to date. The PLA ground forces still have an excessive amount of different types of weapons, and a significant part of it belongs to generations 1 and 1+.
Tank forces. In terms of the number of tanks, the PLA ranks 1st among the armed forces of major military powers. As of the beginning of 2015, the PLA Ground Forces were armed with approximately 5900 medium tanks, 640 main battle tanks (MBT), 750 light tanks, 200 reconnaissance tanks.
Infantry. Infantry formations (formations, units) include: rifle, motorized, mechanized, tank, artillery, anti-aircraft artillery units (subunits), combat and logistical support subunits. The maneuvering forces of the PLA Ground Forces currently include mainly mechanized formations.
In addition to tanks, the PLA infantry forces are armed with a large number of armored combat vehicles (AFVs) of various types and purposes: infantry fighting vehicles (BMP) - 385,012, armored personnel carriers (APCs) - 5020, including tracked - 4150, wheeled - 870.
The rocket forces and artillery of the PLA Ground Forces include formations armed with tactical missile systems, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) of various calibers, artillery pieces (cannons, howitzers, mortars), anti-tank guns and anti-tank missile systems, as well as units and subunits of artillery reconnaissance.
At the beginning of 2015, the missile forces and artillery of the PLA Ground Forces had more than 13 thousand artillery systems, including: self-propelled guns - 2280, towed guns - 6140, combined 120-mm howitzers - 300, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) - 1872, including self-propelled - 1818 (122-mm - 1643, 300-mm - 175), mortars - 2586 (82-mm and 100-mm). In addition, in service were: self-propelled anti-tank missile systems (ATGM) - 924 units, recoilless guns - 3966 units. (75-mm, 82-mm, 105-mm and 120-mm), anti-tank guns - 1788 units, including self-propelled - 480 units, towed anti-tank guns - 1308 units.
Military air defense (air defense) includes the forces and means of reconnaissance of the air enemy, notifying the covered troops about his approach, formations and units of anti-aircraft and anti-aircraft missile artillery, units and subdivisions of electronic warfare. The forces and means of military air defense destroy aircraft, helicopters, cruise and operational-tactical ballistic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and other air attack weapons. The most modern means of military air defense can, on a limited scale, solve the tasks of anti-missile defense in a theater of operations.
Over the past 10-15 years, the PRC has made significant progress in expanding the combat capabilities of air defense, including its military component. Modern highly effective means of combat were developed and adopted, capable of destroying maneuvering air targets flying at medium, low and ultra-low altitudes. Currently, in service with the air defense of the PLA Land Forces, in addition to cannon anti-aircraft artillery, numbering 7376 artillery systems and portable anti-aircraft missile systems (MANPADS), there are short, medium and long-range anti-aircraft missile systems, the total number of which reaches 296 units.
Ground Forces Aviation (Army Aviation) or Troop Support Aviation (APV) is a branch of the PLA Ground Forces. It includes the aviation of military districts and army groups. The main organizational unit is mixed helicopter brigades (regiments). They are armed with combat (anti-tank, fire support), multifunctional, transport-combat, transport-amphibious and special (reconnaissance, rescue, ambulance, control, electronic warfare) helicopters. At the beginning of 2015, the PLA Ground Forces aviation had 150 combat helicopters (Z-10-90, Z-19-60), multipurpose (multipurpose) helicopters - 351, transport - more than 338, including heavy (61 units) and medium (209).
The PLA Ground Forces also include the Special Operations Forces, created in 1988. Reinforced units of the Special Operations Forces, each of which can number up to 1000 people, are available in all military districts of the PLA. They are subordinate to the commander of these districts. The planning and conduct of operations with the participation of the Special Operations Forces of the Land Forces of the PLA are carried out by the headquarters of the military districts, which include the appropriate command and control bodies.
STAFFED BY WAR TIME STATES
In terms of its technical equipment, the PLA Ground Forces in most parameters came close to the level of the armies of the advanced military powers. Their mobility has significantly increased, striking power, and the capabilities of army aviation and air defense have increased. Despite the prevalence of generation 1 and 1+ vehicles in the PLA's tank fleet, they are rapidly being replaced by the main battle tanks of generations 2 and 2+. Work on the creation of a third generation tank is at the final stage. Modern armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles are entering the troops in droves. The backlog in the saturation of troops with modern samples of self-propelled barrel artillery has noticeably decreased.
A special place among the artillery systems of the PLA Ground Forces is occupied by multiple launch rocket systems of various types and purposes. In terms of the level of development and saturation of rocket artillery, the PLA Ground Forces surpass the armies of the advanced states, including the United States and Russia.
One of the strengths of the PLA Ground Forces is the presence in their composition of a significant number of combat-ready formations, staffed by states approaching wartime. China surpasses any major state in the modern world in its mobilization base, more than half of which is a military-trained reserve. China's great achievement is the significant increase in the operational mobility of the PLA Ground Forces. The mobile forces are practically fully staffed with high-readiness mechanized formations.
It should also be noted that there is a well-trained NCO staff, which provides both exemplary discipline and a high level of individual training of soldiers and tactical training of units.
The strengths of the PLA Ground Forces include the presence of quite numerous, well-trained and equipped with special weapons, military equipment and equipment of the Special Operations Forces. The special forces of the PLA Ground Forces can effectively solve their specific tasks in any geographic zone and at any time of the year, including at a great distance from the main forces.
It is impossible to ignore the fact that the PLA Ground Forces have a sufficient number of military educational and research institutions that carry out high-quality training of military personnel of different levels and conduct active research work in the field of operational art, strategy and tactics, conduct an analysis experience in the use of their troops and the armed forces of foreign states, as well as develop innovative methods and methods of warfare in modern conditions.
The weaknesses of the PLA Ground Forces include the clearly insufficient development and small number of army aviation. Despite serious efforts to strengthen this aviation, China in this parameter is still seriously inferior to the armies of the advanced countries of the world.
The lag in technical means of communication, reconnaissance, navigation, target designation has not yet been overcome. The combat capabilities of the military air defense / missile defense system, as well as electronic warfare units, do not fully meet modern requirements.
The weaknesses of the PLA Ground Forces include an excessively wide range of similar weapons and military equipment that have the same purpose and similar tactical and technical characteristics. These types of weapons are produced by different companies using their own specific components and assemblies, which leads to an extremely low level of unification of arms and military equipment components and significantly complicates its maintenance and repair, especially in a combat situation.
One of the serious shortcomings of the PLA Ground Forces is the lack of sufficient experience in conducting large-scale operations of inter-service forces in conditions of network-centric combat operations.
It should also be noted that the PLA Ground Forces command is highly dependent on the CPC army political agencies, which exercise tight control over the activities of the troops, which constrains the initiative of commanders at all levels and devalues the principle of one-man command.
Despite these shortcomings, which are quickly eliminated, the PLA, having a colossal advantage in the number of Ground Forces, which allows it to create more than 10-fold superiority in manpower and equipment over any potential enemy, can conduct successful operations in any strategic direction along the perimeter of national borders. … Moreover, in our opinion, thanks to such an overwhelming superiority in numbers, as well as a fairly high level of equipment and combat training of personnel, the PLA is capable of conducting active hostilities and winning even two or more theaters of military operations.
