Chinese Army (PLA) News & Discussions

[hk299792458]

Nankin military region's quarterly exam...

Jinan military region tested to use civilian transport network for military use...

Shenyang military region continues to improve soldier's daily life...

Henri K.

 

[hk299792458]

DF-11A and DF-15 in Gobi desert...

Shenyang military region's drill...

Henri K.

 

[Nishan_101]

So where is the development of Y-9 reached and is it better than C-130J30 and will it going to have a twin engine version like CN-295???

 

[hk299792458]

Night training of ZTZ-96 tanks from Chengdu military region...

Henri K.

 

[IamINDIA]

i think more and more the Chinese military is trying to emulate the Americans, just my opinion.

 

[hk299792458]

The exercise of a pontoon bridge regiment of the Nanjing Military Region ...

Many new facilities entered service in Lanzhou Military Region, as HQ-16A , ZBD-04A , ZBD-08 ( also called Type 502G ), PGZ-07 ... etc.

Exercise of Jinan Military Region, where snipers "killed[/ i]" 4 counts of tank ...

Henri K.

 

[gambit]

i think more and more the Chinese military is trying to emulate the Americans, just my opinion.

Had to. Especially after Desert Storm when the PLA had to retract a report to the Politburo that predicted 'massive' American casualties for the price of victory over Iraq. Keep in mind that the Soviets and China were the main suppliers of arms and military advisement to the Iraqi military. So now when you examine the PLA, from the lowest rank soldier, airman, and sailor, to the top brass, you see emulations and adaptations of the American military all over.

The weakest part of the PLA is the non-commissioned officers (NCO) corps and this weakness is signature of every military that is more beholden to political partisanship than to the country, from the Soviets to China to charismatic dictatorships in the ME. I have worked with and trained military personnel from England, Spain, Italy, German, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. The worst NCOs came from the last three countries listed. They have little institutional authority and that gave them practically no autonomy to ensure the details of running a military are followed, policies obeyed, and problems resolved at the lowest level.

 

[Sedqal]

Had to. Especially after Desert Storm when the PLA had to retract a report to the Politburo that predicted 'massive' American casualties for the price of victory over Iraq. Keep in mind that the Soviets and China were the main suppliers of arms and military advisement to the Iraqi military. So now when you examine the PLA, from the lowest rank soldier, airman, and sailor, to the top brass, you see emulations and adaptations of the American military all over.

The weakest part of the PLA is the non-commissioned officers (NCO) corps and this weakness is signature of every military that is more beholden to political partisanship than to the country, from the Soviets to China to charismatic dictatorships in the ME. I have worked with and trained military personnel from England, Spain, Italy, German, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. The worst NCOs came from the last three countries listed. They have little institutional authority and that gave them practically no autonomy to ensure the details of running a military are followed, policies obeyed, and problems resolved at the lowest level.

A very interesting observation, have you ever worked with Pakistan Army?

 

[gambit]

A very interesting observation, have you ever worked with Pakistan Army?

No.

Many here understandably have not served time in their respective country's military and equally understandably underestimate the institution of the NCO corps. At the lowest level of the Army's platoon as an example, even though I am Air Force, the commanding officer (CO) is usually a commissioned officer of lieutenant (Lt) rank, and he is or should be supported by a senior NCO like a Master Sergeant.

In theory and analogy, the CO is supposed to be brain while the senior NCO and his immediate subordinates of lower rank NCOs are supposed to be the spine, translating the wishes of the brain into executable orders, and ensure that those orders are carried out. All without asking for guidance from the brain on the details on how to overcome problems. In order to do that, the NCO corps must be given a great deal of autonomy at the institutional level, meaning the NCOs in this smallest level of the Army must already be granted a certain amount of authority to give orders at the immediate situation without the need to seek consent from his CO.

I can remember to this day how amazed I was when I was told I could not give instructions to a group of Saudi F-15 maintenance techs that they could use a broomstick to replace a push/pull rod in a flight control system to get their jet flying again. That was an Aircraft Battle Damage Repair (ABDR) training. This is war so do whatever you can to get your jet in the air. Further, this was a technique proven by American F-15 crews and verified by McDonnell Douglas to be an effective interim measure. Gave the same training to the Germans and never had any pushback. In fact, the Germans became even more inventive. For the Saudis, they must receive higher up approval for such a radical departure from procedures. For the USAF, a mid-level NCO can 'sign off' a jet as combat certifiable. For the Saudis and the Egyptians, that approval must be from the unit's commander.

You can read the PLA's own admission of the weakness of its NCO corps here...

JFQ-62: Junior Leader PME in the PLA

Building upon the limited reforms and dramatic downsizing of the PLA initiated under Deng Xiaoping, in 1995 President Jiang Zemin announced the Two Transformations that underpin the current Chinese strategy of Active Defense.4 Initially based on observations of U.S. military conduct during the 1991 Persian Gulf War against Iraq—and reinforced by lessons from the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, the 1999 Kosovo campaign, and Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom—these transformations directed the military to prepare for wars under modern, high-tech conditions, and to form an army based on quality, not quantity.5 Both of these transformations represent significant shifts from the historical PLA doctrine and force structure that relied on mass armies of relatively uneducated peasants operating under the concept of "People's War."

The heavier the political indoctrination of a military's membership, the less emphasis will be on technical competence, and by the word 'technical' I do not mean how to use rifles or wrenches, but on how to use those things in the context of prosecuting a war. A senior NCO must be technically competent not only on how to use his own rifle but on how to deploy the platoon's rifles in order to accomplish his CO's wishes.

The US military's best quasi-secret weapon is its NCO corps.

Ranks of the People's Liberation Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If we go by what is currently known of the PLA, its highest ranking NCO ends at the Command level. But for the US military, it is higher still, the enlisted have their own representatives to speak directly to the generals and admirals:

Sergeant Major of the Army
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force

The PLA have no equivalents.

 

[Jango]

No.

Many here understandably have not served time in their respective country's military and equally understandably underestimate the institution of the NCO corps. At the lowest level of the Army's platoon as an example, even though I am Air Force, the commanding officer (CO) is usually a commissioned officer of lieutenant (Lt) rank, and he is or should be supported by a senior NCO like a Master Sergeant.

In theory and analogy, the CO is supposed to be brain while the senior NCO and his immediate subordinates of lower rank NCOs are supposed to be the spine, translating the wishes of the brain into executable orders, and ensure that those orders are carried out. All without asking for guidance from the brain on the details on how to overcome problems. In order to do that, the NCO corps must be given a great deal of autonomy at the institutional level, meaning the NCOs in this smallest level of the Army must already be granted a certain amount of authority to give orders at the immediate situation without the need to seek consent from his CO.

I think what you are referring to here is a Subedar Major, that is the term used for a sergeant major in Pak army. He is the senior most JCO and known as SM throughout the army. He is the right hand man for every CO.

He has a very important role in the admin affairs of a unit and also to maintain a Chain of Command.

 

[gambit]

I think what you are referring to here is a Subedar Major, that is the term used for a sergeant major in Pak army. He is the senior most JCO and known as SM throughout the army. He is the right hand man for every CO.

He has a very important role in the admin affairs of a unit and also to maintain a Chain of Command.

Notice the highlighted...

Sergeant Major of the Army
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force

It signifies the individual is responsible all the enlisted within that branch of service, not just the 10th Army or the 77th TFS or the USS Enterprise.

 

[Genesis]

I always wondered why isn't Chinese guns more widely used? The type 95 has been hyped by the media and yet it is not for sale. I assume the manufacturing cost is not high and reliability at least good. Even if it is not the super powered weapon of Modern Warfare. Or is it.

Why not make some money?

I know it's exported to some countries but not all and I think not in huge quantities. Shouldn't it at least replace the Type 81 Pakistan uses?

 

[hk299792458]

I always wondered why isn't Chinese guns more widely used? The type 95 has been hyped by the media and yet it is not for sale. I assume the manufacturing cost is not high and reliability at least good. Even if it is not the super powered weapon of Modern Warfare. Or is it.

Why not make some money?

I know it's exported to some countries but not all and I think not in huge quantities. Shouldn't it at least replace the Type 81 Pakistan uses?

Type 95 is widely sold.

One example -



Henri K.

 

[hk299792458]

China takes first and second in special forces competition

Mohammed Najib
Amman

The Snow Leopard Unit of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force has won the fifth annual Warrior Competition held at King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC) in Amman from 24-28 March.

The special duty group of the Special Police Academy of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force's came second, followed by the Canadian Special Operations Regiment. The Palestinian Presidential Guard, which has been trained by Russia, the US and Jordan, came in fourth position, a significant improvement on its 10th place in 2012.

Thirty three special operations and counter-terrorism teams from 18 countries participated, with Algeria, Bahrain, France, Greece, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and the US also sending teams.

The competition was expanded to include 15 activities instead of the seven in 2012. Three of these took place at night and three were surprise events designed to test the teams' ability to react quickly to unexpected challenges. The tests included hostage rescue, aircraft assault, building entry, casualty evacuation, and various shooting exercises.

Brigadier General (rtd) Frank Toney, the director of KASOTC, told IHS Jane's that the Warrior Competition aimed to allow participants to share experience and tactics. "If the bad guys co-operate and co-ordinate among themselves, so the good guys should co-operate better to combat them," he said.

The commander of the Iraqi prime minister's counter-terrorism unit, Brigadier General Khadem Jawad, supported this view, telling IHS Jane's that his unit decided to participate in order to keep up with the latest developments in terrorist tactics and responses.

"The Warrior Competition has become the Olympics of special operations forces," Jon Worman, director of business development at KASOTC, said.

Samuel Katz, former editor-in-chief of Special Operations Report magazine, told IHS Jane's that "competitions for special operations and intervention units are great for boosting the morale of a team or enabling operators from different countries, cultures, and even political sides, to network and exchange tradecraft."

He added, however, that it was difficult to simulate the real-world challenges faced by elite units. "There are no guarantees in this line of work other than danger, risk, and courage, and those are intangibles that cannot be replicated in competition," he said.

Pointing out that the US Navy SEAL unit that received widespread publicity and accolades for killing Osama bin Laden would have been viewed quite differently had its mission ended in disaster, Katz said: "Elite units are often judged by their last mission."

Copyright © IHS Global Limited, 2013

Henri K.

 

[hk299792458]

Training of Shenyang military region

Training of border guard from Yunnan province

Exercise of Nanjing military region

Henri K.