The Army has made great progress in building its arms. The armored component has been working to enhance the integration of information systems with weapon platforms, deploy new major battle tanks, and develop heavy, amphibious and light mechanized forces. The proportion of armored mechanized divisions/brigades in combined operational divisions/brigades has further increased. The artillery component has been working to develop a three-level operational command system and deploy a series of advanced weapons and equipment, and new types of ammunition, such as operational and tactical missiles and large-caliber self-propelled gun-howitzers. It has established a preliminary system for all-range precision strikes. The air defense component has been working to deploy a series of advanced field ground-to-air missiles, and new types of radar and intelligence command systems, and to establish and improve an air defense operations system combining reconnaissance, early warning, command and control, and information countermeasures and interception. The engineering component has been working to accelerate the establishment of a system of both specialized and multifunctional engineering support forces that can be used both in peacetime and wartime. It has developed relatively strong capabilities in the fields of accompanying support, rapid barrier breaching, comprehensive protection, counter-terrorist explosive ordnance disposal, emergency rescue and disaster relief. The chemical defense component has been working to develop new types of protection forces. It has established a preliminary integrated system of nuclear, biological and chemical early warning, reconnaissance and monitoring, protection command and protection forces.

The Army aviation wing is one of the combat arms of the Army, and has a three-level (general headquarters/departments, theaters and combined corps) administration system. In recent years it has been working to shift from being a support force focusing on transportation missions to being an integrated combat force focusing on air assault missions; it has stepped up training in fire assault, aircraft-borne operations, air mobility and air service support; and actively participated in counter-terrorism, stability maintenance, border closure and control, emergency rescue, disaster relief and joint exercises. The purpose is to build a well-equipped and multifunctional Army aviation force that is appropriate in size and optimal in structure.

The border and coastal defense force of the Army, under the leadership of general headquarters/departments, military area and provincial military commands, is the mainstay for safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and maintaining security and stability in border and coastal areas. In recent years, adhering to the principles of placing equal emphasis on land and sea, strengthening border defense by means of science and technology, giving priority to key projects and promoting coordinated development, the border and coastal defense force has focused on combat readiness, and comprehensively enhanced its reconnaissance and surveillance, command and control, quick response and defensive operations capabilities. It has consistently strengthened the defense and protection of major directions and sensitive regions, watercourses and sea waters in border and coastal areas. It has intensified border control and management, and participated in emergency-handling and disaster-relief missions. It has carried out extensive exchanges and cooperation on border defense with neighboring countries, and dealt with border and coastal affairs proactively and appropriately. As a result, it has made important contributions to peace and stability, reform, opening-up, and social and economic progress in border and coastal areas.

V. The Navy

The Navy is a strategic service of the PLA, and the main force for maritime operations. It is responsible for such tasks as safeguarding China's maritime security and maintaining the sovereignty of its territorial waters, along with its maritime rights and interests. The Navy is mainly composed of submarine, surface ship, aviation, Marine Corps and coastal defense wings.

History of Development

The Navy was founded on April 23, 1949. From 1949 to 1955 it set up the surface ship force, coastal defense force, aviation, submarine force and Marine Corps, and established the objective of building a light maritime combat force. From 1955 to 1960 it established the Donghai Fleet, Nanhai Fleet and Beihai Fleet, successively. From the 1950s to the end of the 1970s the main task of the Navy was to conduct inshore defensive operations. Since the 1980s, the Navy has realized a strategic transformation to offshore defensive operations. Since the beginning of the new century, in view of the characteristics and laws of local maritime wars in conditions of informationization, the Navy has been striving to improve in an all-round way its capabilities of integrated offshore operations, strategic deterrence and strategic counterattacks, and to gradually develop its capabilities of conducting cooperation in distant waters and countering non-traditional security threats, so as to push forward the overall transformation of the service. Through nearly six decades of development, a modern force for maritime operations has taken shape, consisting of combined arms with both nuclear and conventional means of operations.

Structure and Organization

In time of peace, the Navy adopts a leadership system which combines operational command with building and administration, and which mainly consists of the Navy Headquarters, fleets, test bases, educational institutions, and an armaments academy. There are three fleets under the Navy, namely, the Beihai Fleet, Donghai Fleet and Nanhai Fleet, which are headquartered respectively in Qingdao of Shandong Province, Ningbo of Zhejiang Province, and Zhanjiang of Guangdong Province. Each fleet has under its command fleet aviation, support bases, flotillas, maritime garrison commands, aviation divisions and marine brigades. At present, the Navy has eight educational institutions, namely, the Naval Command College, Naval Engineering University, Naval Aeronautical Engineering College, Dalian Naval Academy, Naval Submarine College, Naval Arms Command College, Naval Flying College and Bengbu Naval School for Non-commissioned Officers.

The submarine force is equipped with nuclear-powered strategic missile submarines, nuclear-powered attack submarines and conventional submarines, all organized into submarine bases and submarine flotillas. The surface ship force mainly consists of destroyers, frigates, missile boats, mine sweepers, landing ships and service ships, and is organized into flotillas of destroyers, speedboats, landing ships and combat support ships, as well as maritime garrison commands. The aviation wing mainly consists of fighters, fighter-bombers, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, patrol aircraft and helicopters, all organized into aviation divisions. The Marine Corps is organized into marine brigades, and mainly consists of marines, amphibious armored troops, artillery troops, engineers and amphibious reconnaissance troops. The coastal defense force is mainly organized into coastal missile regiments and antiaircraft artillery regiments, and mainly consists of shore-to-ship missile, antiaircraft artillery and coastal artillery troops.

Force Building

In line with the requirements of offshore defense strategy, the Navy takes informationization as the orientation and strategic priority of its modernization drive, and is endeavoring to build a strong navy. It deepens reforms and innovations in training programs and methods, highlights training in maritime integrated joint operations, and enhances integrated combat capability in conducting offshore campaigns and the capability of nuclear counterattacks. It organizes in a scientific way operational training, tactical training, specialized skill training and common subject training, focuses on the integrated training of joint operations elements in conditions of informationization and explores methods of training in complex electromagnetic environments. It also attaches importance to MOOTW, training and actively participates in bilateral and multilateral joint training exercises.

Upgrading weaponry and equipment, and optimizing the weaponry and equipment system. Efforts are being made to build new types of submarines, destroyers, frigates and aircraft, forming a preliminary weaponry and equipment system with second-generation equipment as the core and the third generation as the backbone. The submarine force possesses underwater anti-ship, anti-submarine and mine-laying capabilities, as well as some nuclear counterattack capabilities. The surface ship force has developed a surface striking force represented by new types of missile destroyers and frigates, and possesses maritime reconnaissance, anti-ship, anti-submarine, air-defense, mine-laying and other operational capabilities. The aviation wing has developed an air striking force represented by sea-attack aircraft, and possesses reconnaissance, anti-ship, anti-submarine and air-defense operational capabilities. The Marine Corps has developed an amphibious operational force represented by amphibious armored vehicles, and possesses amphibious operational capabilities. The coastal defense force is represented by new types of shore-to-ship missiles and possesses high coastal defense operations capability.

Optimizing the logistical support system, and improving maritime integrated support capabilities. Aiming at enhancing its integrated logistical support capabilities, the Navy has preliminarily built a logistical support system with shore-based logistical support as the foundation and sea-based logistical support as the mainstay, and meshes the two into an integrated whole. It has stepped up the building of ship bases, berthing areas, supply points, docks and airfields. As a result, a shore-based support system is basically in place, which is coordinated with the development of weaponry and equipment, and suited to wartime support tasks. The Navy has gradually deployed new types of large integrated supply ships, medical ships and ambulance helicopters, and succeeded in developing many types of maritime support equipment and a number of key technologies, leading to significant progress in the modernization of the maritime support force.

Enhancing the capabilities and quality of naval officers and men, and training qualified military personnel. The Navy has adopted a personnel training model in which commanding officer candidates receive integrated education for academic credentials and separate pre-assignment education, and is making efforts to improve the pre-assignment training system for officers. The personnel training of the Navy highlights the uniqueness of the service, and stresses the cultivation of practical capabilities. To raise officers' competence for handling their assignments, the Navy is striving to improve the personnel training programs of its educational institutions and implement assignment-oriented curricula. It is also endeavoring to expand the scale of training for NCOs and foster intermediate and senior NCOs qualified for technically complex posts.

VI. The Air Force

The Air Force is a strategic service of the PLA, and the main force for carrying out air operations. It is responsible for such tasks as safeguarding the country's territorial air space and territorial sovereignty, and maintaining a stable air defense posture nationwide. It is mainly composed of aviation, ground air defense, airborne, signal, radar, ECM, technical reconnaissance and chemical defense sections.

History of Development

The Air Force was founded on November 11, 1949. The years from 1949 to 1953 witnessed the establishment of an Air Force leading organs in the CMC and in each of the military area commands; the creation of the fighter, bomber, attacker, reconnaissance and transport, airborne forces and a number of educational institutions; and the organization of the Air Force of the Chinese People's Volunteers to take part in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53). The Air Force was merged with the Air Defense Force in 1957, by adopting a system combining air operations with air defense. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Air Force formed the guiding principle of giving priority to the development of air defense forces, and gradually grew into an air force for territorial air defense. Since the 1990s, the Air Force has been in a phase of rapid development. It has deployed third-generation combat aircraft, third-generation ground-to-air missiles, and a series of relatively advanced and computerized weapons and equipment. It has stepped up the development of military theories with strategic theories at the core, and introduced a strategic concept that the Air Force should be capable of both offensive and defensive operations. As a result, the Air Force has begun its transition from territorial air defense to both offensive and defensive operations. After nearly six decades of development, the Air Force has initially developed into a strategic service comprising more than one wings. It now has relatively strong capabilities to conduct air defensive and offensive operations, and certain capabilities to execute long-range precision strikes and strategic projection operations.

Structure and Organization

In peacetime, the Air Force practices a leadership system that combines operational command with building and administration, and which consists of the Air Force Headquarters, air commands under military area commands, corps-level (division-level) command posts, divisions (brigades) and regiments. The Air Force has under it an air command in each of the seven military area commands of Shenyang, Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Chengdu. It has also under it an airborne corps as well as various institutions of education, research and experimentation. Under each air command at the military area command level are aviation divisions, ground-to-air missile divisions (brigades and regiments), antiaircraft artillery brigades (regiments), radar brigades (regiments), ECM brigades (regiments and battalions), and other specialized service units. In key areas there are also corps- or division-level command posts. The Air Force has also a number of educational and training institutions, including the Air Force Command College, Air Force Engineering University, Air Force Aviation University, Air Force Radar College, Air Force College at Guilin, Air Force College at Xuzhou, Air Force School for Noncommissioned Officers at Dalian and seven flying colleges.