People's Liberation Army

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Lore & Background

The PLAGF consist of conventionally armed main and regional units, which in 1987 made up over 70 percent of the PLA. It provided a good conventional defense, but in 1987 had only limited offensive potential and was poorly equipped for nuclear, biological, or chemical warfare. Main forces included about 35 group armies, comprising 118 infantry divisions, 13 armored divisions, and 33 artillery and antiaircraft artillery divisions, plus 71 independent regiments and 21 independent battalions of mostly support troops. Regional forces consisted of 73 divisions of border defense and garrison troops plus 140 independent regiments. Under the old system, a field army consisted of three partially motorized infantry divisions and two regiments of artillery and anti-aircraft artillery. Each field army division had over 12,000 personnel in three infantry regiments, one artillery regiment, one armored regiment, and one anti-aircraft artillery battalion. In 1987 the new, main-force group armies typically included 46,300 soldiers in up to four divisions, believed to include infantry, armor, artillery, air defense, airborne, and air support elements. The 13 armored divisions each had 3 regiments and 240 main battle tanks (MBT) but lacked adequate mechanized infantry support. There was little evidence of the use of armored personnel carriers during the Sino-Vietnamese border conflict in 1979, and tanks were used as mobile artillery and as support for dismounted infantry. When chairman Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, the PLAGF was a 4.9 million-strong peasant army. After some time, the demobilization of ill-trained and politically unreliable troops began, resulting in the reduction of army strength.

In Their Own Story

In February 1949, the existing large number of armies and divisions were regularized into up to seventy armies of three divisions each. While some, such as the 1st Army, survived for over fifty years, a number were quickly amalgamated and disestablished in the early 1950s. It appears that twenty per cent or even more of the seventy new armies were disestablished up to 1953; in 1952 alone, the 3rd, 4th, 10th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Armies were disbanded. In the 21st century, the PLAGF are continuing to undergo significant reform, experimentation, modernization, and restructuring to deal with potential threats and enhance their capabilities. Divisions are downsized into combined arms brigades, which reorganized into high-readiness army groups. The division echelon is phased out with only a limited number of division structures remaining existent. While the size of the PLA Ground Force has been reduced over the past few decades, technology-intensive elements such as special operations forces (SOF), army aviation (helicopters), surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and electronic warfare units have all been rapidly expanded. The latest operational doctrine of the PLAGF highlights the importance of information technology, electronic and information warfare, and long-range precision strikes in future warfare. The older generation telephone/radio-based command, control, and communications (C3) systems are being replaced by integrated battlefield information networks featuring local/wide-area networks (LAN/WAN), satellite communications, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based surveillance and reconnaissance systems, and mobile command and control centers.

Reader's Guide

The PLAGF has a standing regular army and a reserve force. Although conscription is employed in China by law, mandatory military service has not been implemented since 1949, as the People's Liberation Army has been able to recruit sufficient numbers voluntarily. Chinese militia is not a component of the People's Liberation Army, however, they could provide a certain degree of reserve function, which was indicated by 'Militia Military Training and Evaluation Outline' released by the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department in 2007. The Militia is however explicitly not part of the formal Reserve since the passing of the 2022 Reservist Law. PLAGF branches of service are composed of light infantry, mechanized infantry, armour, artillery, air defense, aviation, engineering, CBRN, communications, special operations, logistics, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and unmanned aerial vehicles. These branches of service have their respective military education institutions. PLA operational structure reflects China's strategic missions, political environment, and geographical circumstances. There are 13 corps sized group armies since the end of April 2017, divided among five Theater commands — Eastern, Southern, Northern, Western and Central. Within the group armies, the old divisions are being downsized into brigades. Each group army includes six maneuver combined arms brigades, fire support/artillery brigades, air defense brigades, aviation brigades, special operations brigades, combat support brigades, and sustainment brigades. The maneuver combat components of the group armies are combined arms brigades, including a mix of heavy combined arms brigades, medium combined arms brigades, light combined arms brigade, amphibious combined arms brigades, and mountain combined arms brigades.

Did You Know?

• The PLAGF traces its lineage to 1927 as the Chinese Red Army, but was not officially established until 1948.
• In 1952 alone, the 3rd, 4th, 10th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Armies were disbanded.
• When Chairman Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, the PLAGF was a 4.9 million-strong peasant army.
• The 13 armored divisions in 1987 each had 3 regiments and 240 main battle tanks but lacked adequate mechanized infantry support.
• There are 13 corps sized group armies since the end of April 2017, divided among five Theater commands.