China’s Xinjiang forces put military engineering advances to simulated modern battlefield test

State media showcases joint operation drill and the PLA’s new vehicle types in mountain regiment exercises in Karakoram Desert
Exercise tests new equipment, but also the joint operation capabilities between machines and troops, says former Taiwanese naval instructor

China's military weapons

Minnie Chan

Published: 9:00pm, 5 Apr 2022

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A mountain infantry regiment of the People’s Liberation Army in Xinjiang has tested the Chinese military’s advances in engineering by putting new types of vehicles through their paces in a joint operation drill simulating complex battlefield conditions.

In an exercise in the Central Asian Karakoram Desert, synthetic, or combined, battle groups from the Xinjiang military district in China’s Western Theatre Command used new equipment to overcome a series of obstacles and difficulties, including anti-tank ditches, missile and chemical weapon attacks and electronic jamming, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday.

A decontamination vehicle washes and disinfects military vehicles after a simulated “chemical weapon attack” in a joint operation drill by infantry forces of the Xinjiang military district. Photo: CCTV

CCTV video footage showed two-wheeled assault bridge vehicles spanning a trench to help light infantry tanks cross and then keep moving while under simulated long-range missile attacks.

“The mobile assault bridge was designed to accompany light infantry to overcome man-made and natural barriers, such as tank trenches, ditches, and bomb craters, to ensure the fast passage of … all military vehicles,” said Zhang Shifeng, commander of a synthetic regiment in Xinjiang.

The state media report showed the battle groups hit by chemical weapons. A temporary disinfection site was rapidly established and a huge decontamination vehicle opened its gantry to wash and disinfect all military vehicles.

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After overcoming the obstacles, the combined forces arrived at their destination. The intelligence force flew drone reconnaissance missions on the “enemy” before launching a full-scale attack, including having an electronic jamming unit carry out electromagnetic suppression, according to the CCTV account.

Liu Jiang, a division head of equipment management in the Xinjiang military district, told CCTV the training aimed to test unit commanders’ capacity to incorporate the new equipment while in a complex joint operation.

“We’ve set up complex battlefield situations based on actual combat needs, needing all fighting forces in various units to break out [from bureaucratic] obstacles and ‘connect’ with each other to improve combat capabilities,” Liu said.

When the Xinjiang infantry force conducted live-fire training in November the exercise was limited to anti-tank tests and other simple drills.

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Military commentator and former PLA instructor Song Zhongping said this recent drill showed the commanders had designed bigger challenges that were closer to real-combat situations.

“Reality has showed us that in today’s modern war – including the ongoing Ukraine war and other military conflicts outside China – all soldiers need to face unpredictable attacks and complicated difficulties, which need different fighting units to work together under a joint operation system,” Song said.

Xinjiang district has about 70,000 ground troops, greater than neighbouring Tibet’s estimated 40,000 soldiers, with combating the “three forces” – terrorism, separatism and religious extremism – among its missions in the region.

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These challenges pushed the infantry forces in this district to intensify their mechanisation efforts over the past two decades at the same time the PLA was modernising the overall Chinese military.

Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at Taiwan’s Naval Academy, said the recent joint training also aimed to prepare troops for the annual large-scale cross-region training at the Zhurihe Combined Tactics Training Base in Inner Mongolia later this year.

“The PLA leadership announced that they completed military mechanisation [in 2020],” Lu said. “The multi-arms joint drill is not only a good demonstration to test the achievements of new equipment development, but also the joint operation capabilities between machines and troops,” he said.