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Chinese amphibious tanks and marines storm a beach during a joint military exercise with Russia in Shandong province in 2005. Photo: AFP

Lessons from Ukraine: Chinese marines need better air defence capabilities, magazine says

  • Sinking of Russian warships in Black Sea highlights threat posed by missiles, drones
  • Amphibious fleets ‘vulnerable to attacks when they approach Taiwan’s coastline’
Taiwan

A big lesson for China from the Russia-Ukraine conflict is the need to strengthen the air defence capabilities of the nation’s marine corps, especially when conducting operations against Taiwan, according to a Chinese military magazine.

In mid-April, the Ukrainians sank Russia’s Black Sea flagship, the missile cruiser Moskva, with a ground-based anti-ship missile. Less than a month later, Ukrainian officials announced the sinking of a second Russian ship in the Black Sea after a drone strike.

The magazine Naval and Merchant Ships said the biggest lesson from the Russia-Ukraine crisis is the urgent need to strengthen the air defence and anti-missile combat effectiveness of China’s marine corps, especially for front-line units.

The Russian missile cruiser Moskva, flagship of its Black Sea fleet, on fire before sinking. Photo: Twitter

The article said China traditionally placed a disproportionate emphasis on surface vessels in operations. That was an acceptable tactic when uploading weapons and crossing waters, but there was a void when it came to conducting anti-air and anti-missile operations after landing on a rival’s territory.

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“The main duty of escort fleets is to provide various assistance, such as air defence and anti-missile shields, to amphibious fleets, which are vulnerable to attacks when they approach Taiwan’s coastline,” the article said, adding that amphibious ships’ air defence and anti-missile capabilities are weak even if they are equipped with HQ-10 short-range air-defence missiles.

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China’s most advanced amphibious assault ship likely to be deployed in disputed South China Sea

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The article also said that Chinese missiles from surface ships lacked the range to effectively protect the marine corps.

“The naval variant of the HQ-16 air defence missile covers a range of only 40km (25 miles), and the Type 054A frigate can only carry limited ammunition, so it’s doubtful whether and how long they could provide protection for marines,” the article said. The Type 054 multi-role frigate is one of China’s main warships.
A PLA Navy Type-054 frigate launched in December. Photo: Weibo

The article also mentioned that Taiwan’s existing Thunderbolt-2000 multiple rocket launch system and the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, which might be procured in the future, could make it even harder for Chinese surface ships to mitigate threats.

Mainland China and Taiwan split in 1949 at the end of a civil war when the Kuomintang was defeated by Communist Party forces and fled to Taipei. Beijing sees the island as part of China and has never ruled out the use of force to take control of it.

China’s marine corps on notice to boost combat strength, analyst says

The article concluded by saying that China had to re-evaluate its military front-line units’ air-defence capabilities and enhance its own strike capabilities.

China has been building up its marine corps’ size and capabilities so that it can project power far from China and far ashore in any climate and place, according to the US Naval Institute.
PLA marine corps frogmen train on a beach in Leizhou, Guangdong province. Photo: Xinhua
In 2017, China rolled out plans to increase the number of marine corps personnel from 20,000 to 100,000, at a time when Beijing was shedding 300,000 from the wider People’s Liberation Army, according to Chinese state media reports.

The strengthening of China’s marine corps, a highly trained and well equipped force intended for rapid deployment and offensive missions launched from the sea, is said by Beijing to be aimed at protecting maritime trade routes and the nation’s growing overseas interests.

The United States has the world’s largest marine corps. It has as many marines as every other marine corps on the planet combined, according to the website GlobalSecurity.org.

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