Air Assault 1st BN is equipped with ATV's (see picture)
Helicopter 4th BN is equipped with Z-19's
Pairing Army Aviation with organic specialized, light infantry units, I am seeing a trend here.
Sunday, August 20, 2017
The 1st LH (Army Aviation) Brigade is now the 161st Air-Assault Brigade (空中突击第161旅), 83rd Group Army, Central Theater Command
To be clear, the PLA has been experimenting with heli-assault tactics in combined arms operations since the formation of its LH (Army Aviation) Corps (here), albeit at a low scale. In 2005, the CMC detached elements from the 149th Mech Infantry Division to form the experimental 155th Special Light Mechanized Regiment as a first step of putting theoretical theory into practice. In addition to the 155th, a smaller Heli-Assault battalion battle group was also created at the Nanjing MR to further refine small-unit, heli-assault operations. Fast forward to 2017, Air-Assault is now part of the ground force's arsenal. More LH units are expected to be converted into Air-Assault Brigades as part the orbat reform.
The PLAAF is also doing the same (see below)
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Next up at the Stride 2015 - Zhurihe A "red-vs-blue" confrontational exercise, 1st Heli-Assault Brigade, Nanjing MR
The 1st Heli-Assault Brigade (or 直升机机降突击旅 in Chinese) started as the 1st Heli-Assault battalion battle group in 2005, expanded into a full assault brigade in 2008. According to its commander 厉振彪 Li ZhenBiao, due to shortage of organic vertical assets, flatbed trucks were pressed into service to simulate airdrops. Their first military exercise was feasible only by 2009 when additional helicopters found their way to the Nanjing MR. Despite taking part at this year's Zhurihe, the outfit is still fairly new by PLA standards, doubts about their effectiveness will remain for some time to come.
Here are CCTV captures of its first military exercise in 2009
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