China’s marines put to extreme tests in drive for all-terrain troops
- CCTV series shows personnel training in Himalayan winter and desert summer
- The PLA aims to create small, nimble units that can operate in a range of conditions, analysts say
In footage aired by state broadcaster CCTV this week, members of the corps were shown training in a range of harsh environments, from the extreme cold of a Himalayan winter to the severe heat of a desert summer.
“Our training has to ensure we can fight in all conditions and manoeuvre quickly, whether it’s on land, on an island, in the air or underwater,” Xu Xiaofei, a 34-year-old marine armoured vehicle engineer, told CCTV.
02:33
Chinese troops in Russia as multinational military drills open in far east
The Type 075 is one of the country’s biggest amphibious platforms and has a capacity for at least 30 attack helicopters and vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicles, all operated by marines.
The third Type 075 was launched in January last year, and started its maiden sea trials the following November.
Photos posted online show the vessel docked at the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai and with the pennant number 33, indicating it is ready to join the navy.
Chinese marines need better air defence capabilities, magazine says
Zhou Chenming, a researcher from the Beijing-based Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank, said some elements of the corps’ training were similar to that of the US Special Forces, including the focus on extreme weather and the need for troops to be able to cope with a variety of conditions, known as multi-domain combat.
Zhou said the principles of multi-domain combat were also being applied to the PLA’s general ground forces, but with some improvements.
“China has also tried to perfect its system. For example, the ground force’s combined arms battalion (CAB), which is now the PLA’s smallest combat unit, will be supported by drones, not scouts, in reconnaissance missions,” he said.
Under the slimmer CAB system, a commander is supported by a small group of staff officers who each specialise in different domains and a chief staff officer who is familiar with dozens of weapons, from machine guns to tanks, according to the CCTV footage.
01:50
China’s most advanced amphibious assault ship likely to be deployed in disputed South China Sea
Former PLA instructor Song Zhongping said the formation of marine and ground force CABs indicated that the Central Military Commission was still exploring and refining military systems amid regional uncertainty.
“The PLA’s marines will not only take care of a possible Taiwan contingency in the near future, but also to deal with the territorial disputes in the East and South China seas,” Song said.
China also has a maritime dispute with Japan over the Senkaku Islands, also known as the Diaoyus, in the East China Sea, as well as overlapping sovereignty claims with many Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea.
“The establishment of CABs in the ground forces is meant to turn all units into independent fighting forces. This concept of full-spectrum combat has also been introduced to the air force, navy, rocket force and other fighting wings,” Song said.
The principles are also being applied to the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force that has been under the direct control of the CMC since 2017.
According to the CCTV footage – part of an eight-part CCTV documentary series called Forging Heroes to Revival – the PAP has been told to expand its roles in law enforcement, emergency response, counterterrorism, maritime research and rescue, and maritime administrative law enforcement.
